Whimsical Wednesday

Welcome to Whimsical Wednesday my Fellow Book Dragons. Tonight’s Gem is dark, like an onyx, no yet polished,but tumbled. We can see the shine about to break through, the lighter lines there pulsing Hope. This is “The Unexpected Life of Harry Chambers” by Gem Maker S.D. Reed.

This is the tale of one Harry Chambers, it is almost Twilight Zone-ish in it’s presentation of poor Harry. He is the good guy, the nice gent, the one who makes everyone laugh and smile while he is slowly dying inside. Dying of loneliness, misery and the mental and emotional abuse heaped upon him by his Aunt Angie. She is an aging Bi-Polar mess who has raised Harry since his mum died when he was four months old. Was Angie always like this? No, otherwise Harry would be an utter, blubbering mess rather than the charming, loving teaching assistance he is. She was once a lovely person herself, but Time marches on and in Angie’s case it not only marched but stomped.

Harry is a Teaching Assistant for troubled children and he’s extremely good at it. His physical needs are few, his emotional needs are great (if he ever allowed himself the time to think about himself). He loves Drama, Acting, poetry, literature and music. He loves his students and most of his co-workers. But Harry does have one need, one dream, one thing he longs for of his own: America. He wants to get there desperately. And thanks to one of his coworkers he finds that dream maybe easier to attain than he thought.

I really liked this book. It was fun seeing a Harry Potter-like adult character start to come into his own without a magic wand. I like Harry, I understand Harry. I think there is a bit of him in all of us at some point in our lives. S.D. Reed’s writing is quite imaginative, and his conversations quite realistic. He understands his characters. No one is over the top here, no one is too over or under done (well perhaps some of you will think Aunt Angie is, unless you have been with someone with a mental illness who refuses their meds), even side characters are fun. I was disappointed though when he went where every writer who wants to be seen as ‘relevant’ and ‘cool’ goes to these days – he made people who support Donald Trump or people who were some type of nasty person a supporter of Donald Trump. It’s really tedious and tiresome. It’s becoming stereotypical and is below what so many talented people can do, but seems to be the first place they go, especially people from outside the U.S.

At any rate, don’t let that put you off. If you are in the mood for a book that has a protagonist that makes you want to root for someone ..this is the book for you! You’ll be rooting for Harry as I am. I can’t wait for the next installment to come out. It is only sale for a very reasonable price on Amazon now and if you have Kindle Unlimited it’s FREE! If you have Amazon Prime it is only $2.99 to by it which is $10.00 off the list price!

Be watching tomorrow for my latest Author Spotlight and I will be posting a new Question tomorrow as well! Until then, I remain, your humble Book Dragon,

Drakon T. Longwitten

I received a review copy of this book from the author at my request. My opinions are my own.