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"Ribald and rollicking aptly describe Bowman’s second, decidedly funny novel (after The Last Estate, 2010). In 1999, George Baxter Henry is a lawyer, husband, father, adulterer, conniver, and unabashedly snarky commentator on life. When his son falls face first into a cocaine habit, George hauls the entire family to France for weeks of family bonding and detox. He and his coke-snorting son, precocious bookwriting daughter, sweet and clueless wife, and shrieking harridan of a mother-in-law descend upon a little French village and let the hilarious high jinks, tinged with moments of real family pain, ensue. George handles his marital issues, infidelities, child-rearing troubles, and life in general with a breezy abandon that sometimes appalls yet almost unfailingly also delights with its sly humor and frankness. A touch too slim, the novel easily could have continued the fun for many more pages and kept readers in stitches. More George Baxter Henry, please."--Booklist
"The eponymous narrator of The Redemption of George Baxter Henry may be the least noble of protagonists you're bound to meet on the printed page this summer, but he's also quite likely among the most colorful. In the words of Henry's incessantly griping mother-in-law, "Family? What would you know about family? Your son is a cocaine addict, your daughter hardly knows you, and your wife wants a divorce. Family? Don't make me laugh."
Yet in his own way—and for his own reasons—Henry wants more than anything to keep his family together, so he books a trip to the South of France where his son can dry out, his daughter can get to know him, and his wife can fall in love again—that is, if Henry can manage to keep it all together, no mean feat given his proclivity for extramarital affairs.
Fans of Connor Bowman's previous novel, The Last Estate, will be delighted to see the author returning to the South of France for his latest literary outing. Indeed, The Redemption of George Baxter Henry works in an odd way as a kind of sequel to The Last Estate, or at least a literary cousin; as with Bowman's earlier novel, geography and local color become characters in their own right as the story unfolds.
Yet Bowman's greatest talent is likely his penchant for making readers care about characters who are, for the most part, unlikable. While George Baxter Henry may well be a lout, he's a lout with a lot at stake, and as the title of this novel suggests, his concerns aren't merely financial. Arguably, it's Henry's soul that's up for grabs in this tale. As such his journey toward redemption is one that many (if not most) readers will find familiar at least in some way.
Like Henry, we're all flawed in some way, and we've all been in need of redemption at one time or another. In this sense, Bowman has created something of a literary everyman—a character whose sins are so sweeping and egregious that he eclipses us all. As such, his redemption is our redemption. To put it another way, if Bowman's protagonist can be saved, then there's hope for the rest of us!" --Small Press Reviews
George Baxter Henry is having an affair and has been found out by his mother-in-law, Muriel; a ninety-one-year-old former silent screen star who now can’t keep her mouth shut! With a son (Billy) who is being wooed by a record company, and a daughter (Iska) who is writing a book about apples, the Henry family decamp to a village in France to sort themselves out. George and his wife Pearl both want to save their marriage, but for different reasons. Billy sees the world through cocaine-tinted eyelids. Iska is growing up and discovering other fruit. Muriel is sharp and bitter and seems reluctant to get to the great cinema in the sky. In the background lurk the shadows of George’s further infidelities, and distant lineage leading to Graceland. Up front it’s a battleground; where the weapons of choice are vitriol, one-liners and old age. The spoils of war are sanity, and redemption!
CONOR BOWMAN is an Irish lawyer who spends part of his time living in France. His first novel, The Last Estate (2010) was hailed by reviewers.
Price: $26.00
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