Muckydom
by Steven Chiarelli
Bill Hammond lives a lonely life yet shuns any intimate contact with the people around him. He is haunted by visions of people from his dysfunctional relationships, but does his best to ignore or avoid them. Conjuring up fleeting memories of his wife and teaching Shakespeare at the local college provide him with his only semblance of happiness. When he uncharacteristically befriends a withdrawn student in one of his classes he is inadvertently taken on an emotional roller coaster that sends him deeper into despair. On a frantic search for answers he comes to realize that he must affirm his own indiscretions in order to come to terms with how his life has come to pass.
Ten years later on a sunny spring morning Breanna Sutton is reluctantly meeting with Bill, who is now a recluse in an isolated cabin up in Northern Ontario. He had inexplicably started Breanna off on a rewarding and lucrative career that makes her feel bitterly obligated to the old man. She discovers Bill adrift in a world of fantasy and in severe need of medical attention. But the stubborn old man insists that she listen to his recount of his romance with his wife and its tragic conclusion before consenting to get the help he needs. Through the course of an agonizing day, Breanna learns what family truly means and about the obligations that come with it.
Muckydum will take you on the journey of a tormented man’s pursuit to clear his conscience before it’s too late and a woman’s realization that life isn’t measured solely by one’s successes.
My Review
I personally enjoyed this book. I will say that it is not for everyone. It is not action packed excitement, but it will surprise you. The twists are unexpected, and I was kept guessing the whole time. I thought things were one way, only to find out they were completely different later. Not in a confusing way, but definitely in a way that kept you interested. Muckydum was nicely written and has a good flow to it that keeps you interested without overwhelming the reader.
The story itself is about Bill, who is haunted by the ghosts of his past. He had a career and he put that career before his family. Because of that, he paid a devastating price for neglecting his wife. Now he must live with the consequences. As a wife and mother, I could relate to his wife in many ways and could see where she was coming from. I understood why she did what she did. It just made me very sad that she felt so alone. I know how that feels and it sucks.
Breanna feels obligated to listen to the tale Bill has to tell because of their past together. She really makes it seem like the worst kind of torture ever. Anyone with an elderly relative can relate to this. At some point in our lives, usually when we were younger, most of us have had to sit through the “torture” of listening to tales of the good old days. It’s not usually until we are older and more mature that we understand just how important that person and their stories really are. Many times, it is not until it is too late that we learn to appreciate those experiences. Breanna takes it to another level though. She is just plain rude. I can’t imagine being so disrespectful to someone who was trying to share something like that with me. Bill is obviously upset about this story, so Breanna really doesn’t need to make the situation even worse by being so impatient and rude.
There are a few things that could have been elaborated on, but this is true for most books. I felt connected to the main character, Bill, and wanted to slap the crap out of Breanna, the secondary main character, for being so insensitive. It did make me think about certain things that I have dealt with in my own life that I could have handled differently, and how we deal with other people. We really never know what someone else is going through unless they tell us and we have been there ourselves. It gives a message of not being so absorbed in your own feelings to miss what is going on around you with those you care about.
This book really makes you think about how people interact with one another. I think many people could really benefit from the underlying message in this book of understanding and acceptance of others despite our initial perception of them. Breanna really is a good example of how the younger generations of today don’t know how to connect with other people and how young people today are so wrapped up in themselves that they don’t seem to care about anyone else.
I would recommend this book to someone who is looking for an emotionally charged book without a lot of action. There is a type of action, but it isn’t the butt kicking kind of action that I normally read. This book will make you cry, and it will make you angry. Everything wraps up the way it should in the end with important questions answered and will leave you with a feeling of hope.
Buy it Here
Amazon US
Amazon UK
All About Steven
Stephen was born and raised in Ontario, Canada. Currently he resides in the Niagara Region.
Stephen published his first book, The Connected, in 2008. His latest book, Muckydum – The Story of a Haunted Man, was published in March, 2012 in ebook formats. A trade paperback of Muckydum will be available soon from Amazon.com.
All his books are available at various online retailers.
Stephen is currently working on a third full-length novel. He is also working with his editor to compile a book of his short stories.
Contact Steven
