Celticlady's Reading Room

Ashes is a story about the animosity and estrangement of two middle-aged brothers, Jason and Tom Prendergast. Jason is a correction's officer at a prison and Tom is a Professor. They have not seen each other in 15 years but are brought together, albeit reluctantly, by the death of their father. The letter they receive from the lawyer is that their father has already been cremated but their task is to travel across country to Seatle to spread the ashes. In order to find out what is in the letter that was left for them with the instructions, they need to follow their father's request. Thus starts the week long cross country trek to do what is required of them.

What follows is a testy trip, and we learn about what transpired and caused the estrangement between the brothers. Jason is divorced and is in the process of his daughter's wedding plans. Tom is unhappy in his marriage after he found that his wife cheated on him. We learn that Tom and Jason's father was extremely cruel to the boys and we get a glimpse into each brother's version of their young lives.

As with all of Mr.Manchester's books that I have read, you get pulled into the story rather quickly. With humor and a lot of bickering back and forth, anger on both parts as to what happened years ago. Is there a happy ever after? Well go get your own copy! I highly recommend this book if you are a fan of Steven Manchester, and even if you haven't read anything by him, you can't go wrong!