✍ Scribed by Stephen Harrigan
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
Guest Reviewer: William Broyles
*William Broyles is the founding editor of Texas Monthly magazine, the screenwriter of Cast Away and eight other films, and the author of the Viet Nam memoir, *Brothers in Arms.
A sculptor determined to find truth in art, a young man seeking redemption from the terrible wounds of war, a young woman searching for freedom and love, and a father struggling for forgiveness--these memorably-drawn characters leap off the page in Stephen Harrigan’s masterful novel Remember Ben Clayton.
Lamar Clayton is determined to build a memorial to his son, killed in a reckless charge in World War I. At first the commission seems straightforward, a way for ambitious sculptor Gil Gilheaney to leapfrog his New York peers and secure his artistic reputation. His daughter Maureen is his dutiful assistant, willing to sacrifice love and her own art to her father’s single-minded search for greatness. Lamar Clayton is a broken-hearted old man who wants only to honor his son Ben, a golden boy and gifted horseman.
But in Harrigan’s skillful hands nothing is so simple. Ben’s death turns out to be a compelling mystery that transforms the lives of each character, and brings to the surface lies told and lies lived. The truth hides behind the disfigured face of Ben’s wounded comrade, behind the tangled loyalties and brutal conflicts of the blood-soaked Texas frontier, behind the secrets Lamar and Gil both hide from their children.
I loved this book. I was mesmerized to discover whether the sins of the fathers would indeed be visited onto their children. Harrigan understands artists, cowboys, warriors and women; he brings them to life with unflinching but compassionate honesty. He writes about art and war with equal power and authority, but his portrayals of the small quiet decisions that form a life are just as powerful, and sometimes just as shocking, as the wrenching scenes of combat.
The riddle of Ben Clayton is a hypnotic mystery story, drawing the characters out of the their hiding places, forcing them to confront who they really are and what they really want. In Remember Ben Clayton , Harrigan unforgettably captures it all: loyalty and betrayal, the corrosive power of secrets held too tight, the mystery of art, the confusion of the battlefield, and above all the deeply human need to be valued and remembered.
“Like the statue at its center, Harrigan’s novel is a stunning work of art resting on a solid base of heartbreak. The action ranges from the Texas plains to the devastated northern French landscape, with the presence of the violent Wild West strongly lingering. . . . The story builds with determined momentum, providing a grimly vivid sense of place and deep insight into the creative process and family relationships. Harrigan’s The Gates of the Alamo has become a modern classic, and his latest deserves similar acclaim.”—Sarah Johnson, Booklist (starred)
“If it were possible to give Stephen Harrigan’s novel six stars, I would. I have not been able to stop thinking about Remember Ben Clayton since putting it down a final time. It is so moving, with a kind of West Texas majesty that reminds us of what the west was like not that long ago. And it is readable—compulsively so. I was a huge fan of Harrigan’s earlier Gates of the Alamo so I was aware of his writer’s skill. Ben Clayton is even more nuanced and complex. . . . My favorite book this year.”—Candace Siegle, Goodreads
“I read the first chapter and I was hooked . . . The prose is sparse and reminds me of Hemingway, but it fit the characters perfectly. The musings of the characters on art and its role in society—and what it means to the individual artist—were exceptionally absorbing. . . . This novel should appeal to a wide audience—fans of cowboy lit, fans of historical fiction, and artists of all stripes.”—Chiron, Rabbit Reader
From the Hardcover edition.
Adult
📜 SIMILAR VOLUMES
SUMMARY: Amid the imperialist fervor of late 1941 Tokyo, Harry Niles is a man with a mission -- self-preservation. But Niles was raised by missionary parents and educated in the shadows of Tokyo's underworld -- making his loyalties as dubious as his business dealings.Now, on the eve of the attack
Instead of the deadly force it once was, magic is now a useless novelty. But not for Shame Flynn and Terric Conley, "breakers" who have the gift for reverting magic back to its full-throttle power. In the magic-dense city of Portland, Oregon, keeping a low profile means keeping their gifts quiet. Af
Reminiscent of such novels as _A Confederacy of Dunces_ and _The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time_ , **_Bed_** is a darkly funny and surprisingly tender debut novel about two brothers, one of whom refuses to leave his bed on his twenty-fifth birthday. Mal Ede, a child of untamed manne
Reminiscent of such novels as _A Confederacy of Dunces_ and _The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time_ , **_Bed_** is a darkly funny and surprisingly tender debut novel about two brothers, one of whom refuses to leave his bed on his twenty-fifth birthday. Mal Ede, a child of untamed manne
**Five fantasy novels by the author of the Enchanted Forest Chronicles, set in a world of magic and noble adventure.** _Shadow Magic_ While Alkyra's noblemen squabble, an ancient enemy, the Lithmern, raises an army. And as the head of the Noble House of Brenn attempts to organize an alliance, t
SUMMARY: Amid the imperialist fervor of late 1941 Tokyo, Harry Niles is a man with a mission -- self-preservation. But Niles was raised by missionary parents and educated in the shadows of Tokyo's underworld -- making his loyalties as dubious as his business dealings.Now, on the eve of the attack on