With his first novel, Eddie's Bastard, William Kowalski broughtto the literary scene an engaging and original voice in fiction. Henow fulfills that promise in Somewhere South of Here, the tale ofa young man's search for the mother he's never met.
Growing up, Billy Mann's only link to the father who died in Vietnam and the mother who deserted him, was his hard-drinking grandfather, Thomas Mann, who raised him on a diet of fried baloney sandwiches and mythic tales of the Mann family ancestry. With Grandpa now gone, Billy is truly alone in the world. The only clue he possesses to his mother's whereabouts is her last known address, somewhere in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Propelled by hope and heartache, Billy sets off on a cross-country odyssey from his home in upstate New York.
Arriving in Santa Fe, carrying every possession he owns on the back of his motorcycle, Billy takes the first step of an intoxicating Journey of the heart as he courageously completes his rite of passage into manhood. Filled with vividly drawn characters, each of them with secret longings of their own, Billy finds his world suddenly rich with possibility--the chance for love, friendship, and finally, a family to call his own. Somewhere South of Here is a lyrical exploration of the stories that make up our lives, the redemptive power of love, and the faith that compels us to go on.
