Synopses & Reviews
Set in the small west Texas town of Seymour--Proud Souls--is the emotional journey of one man, Justin Olerude Bower, and his pending decision to end his life or move forward with what life he has yet to live. Set six-years after the loss of his wife and son in a terrible accident, Justin wakes one morning to find a new emotion stirring within his soul. A faint glimpse of hope has begun to clash with his earnest desire to drink himself to death and his emotional battle sets the story in motion and leads our hero down a path to discover why he had to lose the most precious part of his life--his family. Proud Souls is an emotional roller-coaster ride, taking the reader from one aspect of the human psyche--sensations of hatred and discontent--to varying emotions of soft sensual arousal, laughter and relief. Our hero is accompanied on this inner journey by the town pastor, Reverend Hillard Ray Polk, the town grocer, Ralph Winslow Parison and the lovely woman dubbed town whore and head barkeep to The Hawk's Nest, Tessa Jameson. Each of these individuals was devastated and affected by the loss of Justin's wife and son six-years prior to the opening of this story and each character now suffers to live within metaphorical prisons--a church, a grocery store and a bar--and their lives parallel the struggle and pending fate of our hero, Justin Olerude Bower. Proud Souls is a thought provoking, must read, story that will leave a lasting impression on the reader. Its descriptive form will weigh heavily on the hearts and minds of its audience and the manner in which it captures the powerful essence of true human form within its pages will leave us to ask ourselves, which choice would I make? Lifeor Death? Death or Life?
Synopsis
Six years after the loss of his wife and son in a terrible accident, Justin Bower wakes one morning to find a new emotion stirring within his soul. A faint glimpse of hope has begun to clash with his earnest desire to drink himself to death and his emotional battle sets the story in motion.