The Wake of Forgiveness

Written by Bruce Machart

Narrated by Henry Strozier

This accomplished debut novel from Bruce Machart has drawn critical raves. In 1895 Texas, Karel Skala enters the world while his mother dies in childbirth. Fifteen years later, guilt-stricken Karel puts his family's fortunes on the line in a horse race against a powerful Spanish patriarch. "Machart's moving story unfolds lyrically and sensually, with little fanfare, as his thoughtful prose propels a character-driven story about family, morality, and redemption."-Publishers Weekly

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Jan 21, 2010
• ISBN: 9781449843878

Reviews for The Wake of Forgiveness

[susiesharp_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Beautifully and lyrically written but very dark. I had trouble getting into this book at first because it was dark and depressing but the writing was so beautiful that I kept reading and I’m glad I did. In the beginning I didn’t think I’d feel compassion or empathy for anyone in this book but that changed as the book progressed.Vaclav Skala and his boys are alone since the death of his wife when she gave birth to Karel. People say Vaclav was a good man when he was with his wife but we don’t see that man we see a cruel man without feeling who uses his sons as horses to plow his fields. The story skips around in time from 1895-1924 at first this was a bit jarring but after awhile you come to understand the flow the author was trying to convey.I don’t want to give too much of this story away because this is a book you need to “feel” as it unfolds. It is a story of family, abuse, loneliness and lastly forgiveness. It is beautiful and haunting, dark and lyrical and worth reading. This may not have been a book I would have picked up but thanks to B&N First Look I read it and am glad I did. I would say to those who may think this isn’t their cup of tea to go ahead and give it a try the prose will grab you and the characters will stay with you even if you don’t like them.4 StarsThank-You B&N First Look for the opportunity to read this book

[writestuff_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

His eyes had cleared, the pain in his knee just a twinge of memory, but now he was seeing his father, the blood dark at the corner of his mouth, his body sucking into the mud of the land he’d tried the whole of his adult life to work toward his own ends, his tobacco-stained lips whispering to his one remaining son, the one to whom the land would fall now that he had fallen, the son he couldn’t lose because he’d never quite had him to begin with. - from the ARC of The Wake of Forgiveness, page 256 -Karel Skala is the youngest son of Klara and Vaclav, born in 1895 on the same night his mother dies while struggling to birth him. Karel’s father, a Czech immigrant and a rough and violent man who has made a living off the Texas land of Lavaca County, only becomes more hardened after the death of his wife. He turns away from the son he blames for her death and immerses himself in the land. This is a man who harnesses his sons to a plow to work his fields (causing them to develop perpetually kinked necks), and accumulates his land by sitting Karel atop a horse to race against his nearest neighbor’s son.The horses reared and surged, and the smoke from Lad’s gun flew up in a windswept whirl and circled itself like a confused spirit into the creekside trees. The boys got up fast in their stirrups, and by the time they urged their animals up to speed, hoof sod flying behind them as they tore past the cheering line of men and between the two fires and into the darkness, eleven-year-old Karel was laying it on thick with his whip. - from the ARC of The Wake of Forgiveness, page 20 -Bruce Machart’s debut novel The Wake of Forgiveness, is about Karel and his father, about the bonds of family and the crevices in sibling relationships, about the Texas land and the men and women who work it, and about love, loss and redemption. Machart writes in a non linear fashion, weaving back and forth from the late nineteenth century, to 1910 (when Karel is fifteen years old), to 1924 (when Karel is a grown man, married with his own children). His prose is poetic and balanced, intense and captivating, violent and heartbreaking. This is a big, sprawling book like the Texas landscape itself.I found myself enthralled by Machart’s book. I loved how he crafted his characters, adding layers to them as the novel progresses. When a rich Mexican arrives in Lavaca County with his three desirable, raven haired daughters, a horse race is organized between Karel and Graciela (one of the daughters) with either land or marriage at stake – depending on who wins the race. The interaction between these two characters on the eve of the race is just another fine example of Machart’s talent to create tension while unveiling another aspect of character.“Well,” says Karel, “seems only fair that you tell me your name, don’t it? Before you leave me in the dust, I mean.”She turns the horse back at him, her eyes so deep and full of their dark allure that Karel imagines she could pull him out of his boots and into the saddle with nothing more than a look. She curls a few strands of the horse’s mane around her finger and wets her lips with her tongue, and, before she gives her horse a heel and gallops him into the early morning fields, she leans down over Karel such that her hair brushes against his face and he breathes her in and she smells of lavender and of beeswax and of sweet feed, and then her voice is in his ear and she’s whispering: “Ask me Saturday, and I’ll tell you it’s Skala.” – from the ARC of The Wake of Forgiveness, page 35 -Machart’s writing is some of the finest I have read in a long time. Dialogue, setting, plot, character…all are fully developed. Machart captures the wide open spaces of Texas, the hard work of farming and ranching, and the beauty of a horse running…all with gorgeous writing that takes the reader’s breath away. This novel is about the troubled relationship between a boy and his father, and the sibling rivalry between brothers who suffer beneath the unrelenting hand of their father. It is also about the human heart’s capacity for love and forgiveness amid hardship.I would not be at all surprised if The Wake of Forgiveness shows up on the literary prize lists in 2011. It is a gripping drama beautifully executed with unforgettable characters. This is one I highly recommend.

[nbmars · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a story about the violence and cruelty that family members can exhibit toward one another, and it’s a bleak, dark tale. It begins in a Czech immigrant community in Texas in 1895 with the death of Vaclav Skala’s wife in childbirth, and events just sort of go downhill from there.Karel Skala is the son who was born as his mother died, and his father has never forgiven him for it. Vaclav harnesses Karel and his three older brothers to a plow to work his fields and they develop necks that are permanently bent. He beats his sons for infractions and cripples them emotionally as well as physically. Notably, Karel has never been touched by his father, except during beatings. One would think the sons would be united in resentment against such a cruel father, but instead, they admire and respect him, even as they hate him, and they wish for his approval in the way children do with no other choice for parents.[I think the author wants us to believe that Vaclav isn’t entirely evil, and that it was his pain from the loss of his wife that drove him to total self-absorption to the point that he forgot he was not only a husband, but a father as well. But I didn’t buy it. I hated him. Death to Vaclav. I didn’t hate the book, however.]The chapters of the book alternate in time, taking us back and forth but clearly identifying the time period. Thus, like peeling back layers of The Onion of Time [what? You never heard of The Onion of Time?], we gradually get all the details of what happened to this family.What I liked:The author creates some very beautiful turns of phrase. Here is Karel, whose mother died at childbirth, talking to Graciela, who makes love to him but won’t run away with him. But before going back home, she asks him about his mother:"Karel turns from her, takes his wet coat from the hay bale behind him and shrugs it on. The cold weight of the thing sets him to shivering. He wraps the horse’s reins around one hand and leads the animal to the door. Graciela doesn’t follow. He opens the door and the hard, clean sound of rainfall makes it so that he has to raise his voice to be certain she hears him. ‘You already know all about her. She was just like you. I was inside her, and then she was gone.’”What I didn’t like:Sometime the language was so poetic, I didn’t get it. Tobacco juice. Tons and tons of tobacco juice spit.Cruelty to animals. Even more cruelty to children.Evaluation: As the author notes, this book has “an old, even timeless, biblical kind of feel. These are, after all, kind of Old Testament struggles at work. Sons and mothers. Brothers and brothers. Fathers and sons.” These people are as mean as the land the try to tame. In some ways it was reminiscent of Under the Unbroken Sky by Shandi Mitchell. But that book, written by a woman, focused more on the women and children of the struggling immigrants, and was written in a softer focus. Machart’s book has very little soft about it, and for the most part the women are distant stereotypes of either saintly mothers or slatternly young women. The author's LaVaca County, Texas is a hard, hard place. If I hadn’t agreed to read it for the Barnes & Noble First Look program, I doubt I would have picked it up. But I’m glad I did read it, tobacco spit and all. It’s not a story I’ll soon forget.

[snat_3 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was an impulse buy at Barnes and Noble. I ignored the book at first in favor of looking at the books around it, but then I caught the words “Tim O’Brien” during a cursory glance at a book blurb on the cover. One of my rules in life is to pick up anything with Tim O’Brien’s name on it and buy it immediately, no questions asked. To date, this rule has served me well and The Wake of Forgiveness is by Bruce Machart is no exception.Set in Texas at the dawn of the 20th century, the novel focuses on the Skala family, which consists of an immigrant father and his four motherless sons. Vaclav’s wife, Klara, dies while giving birth to their fourth son, Karel, and the book focuses on the physical and emotional marks these men carry as a result of her death. Despite her early death, the shadow of Klara haunts every page. In a cruel and unforgiving landscape, Klara would have served as the buffer between the physical and emotional demands of pioneer life, between the immigrant and his new homeland, between father and son, and between the sons themselves. Without her, these men throw themselves against each other, against the landscape, and against life itself with a brutal tenacity that can only be born of intense pain and loss. After the loss of his wife, Vaclav Skala, an ascetic man by nature, becomes even harder and more unforgiving in his dealings with the world. To spare his fine racing horses the detrimental effects of fieldwork, he instead hitches his four sons to the plow. Their time in the harness has left the boys with a peculiar deformity: they all have twisted necks that symbolize their skewed view of the world inflicted upon them by their father. Of all the boys, none are as warped as Karel. Having never known his mother and carrying the burden of guilt for her death, Karel is nonetheless Vaclav’s pride as Karel is a gifted horseback rider whose skills have won his father many a high-stakes gamble. As the novel goes on, the narrative moves back and forth between the story of Karel as a young boy and Karel as a grown man, now alienated from his brothers. The circumstances leading to the severing of the connection with his siblings are revealed as the book goes on and heighten the suspense as the novel moves toward its satisfying resolution. Machart has created a tragedy that is epic in scope and is often reminiscent of Cormac McCarthy’s best work (in particular, All the Pretty Horses comes to mind). The language is poetic and so frequently captures the heart of the moment or the quality of the landscape with such a perfect turn of phrase that I often went back and re-read certain lines just to savor them. Another point in Machart’s favor is that his characters are complex and never watered-down; these are hard, often cruel men, but that doesn’t mean they are completely devoid of kindness, poeticism, or intelligence. They are victims of a lifestyle and a landscape that naturally cripples the finest points of humanity to ensure survival in a merciless environment. That any of the characters retain even a shred of their capacity for forgiveness is the ultimate triumph.

[earthwind_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Unusual and haunting. Powerful and lyrical. Loving and vicious. 1800s to 1900s life or death in Texas. This story will prompt immense intense discussion.

[lg4154 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I admit that I had a hard time from start to finish reading this book which does not mean it is not a good book, written beautifully, just not one I would have chosen to read. Normally, I don’t like reading historical novels. I do like the author’s descriptive passages, it definitely held my attention. Although, some of the passages I found mildly offensive and shocked me as I was reading them. The reference to the calf carcass being dragged to the lake to teach the children a lesson, I was shocked as I was reading this. The comments that Karel made almost found it amusing to a degree, this kind of really turned me off. I read it because I won it in the FL book club and am very thankful for that!It has it's redeeming qualities although some pages and incidences being hard for me to read, I liked the way it ended seeming that there was some love and caring in these brothers that were brought up in a very bad upbringing with a father, Vaclav Skala, who had little in him to like. I thought the author did a good job in showing the dynamics of the family and the differences between the siblings. Some of the passages were really cruel and I know that the author is writing about life in the 1910’s on a farm, which society was a lot different then as it is now. It is almost like the children were nothing more than workers, not so much able to be normal children, but to put in their fair share.The story is mainly about Karel Skala and his family and brothers who were used by their father to plow fields with their own selves resulting in disfiguration they would have to live with and it made them hard boys to men. This upbringing made them stronger in a sense, and more hard-working self-sufficient individuals. I admit that the middle section had me lost at times, like I said before I am not a fan of historical novels. It was not very easy to read and I found it dragging on for me. I do not think I would have gone out and bought this book, but I am glad that I had an opportunity to read an advanced readers copy before the general public. I love the first lookI am going to give this book 3 stars only because I believe it is a good book, well written like I said earlier, just not one for me. I hope I am not dissuading anybody from reading this; I just didn’t like this novel.

[bookaholicmom · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I really wanted to like this book much more than I did. The writing is beautifully descriptive. However, I found the storyline to be dark and depressing. The time line goes back and forth and I found myself having to go back and figure out what time period I was now in. The flow was confusing to me. There were some rather descriptive moments of child abuse and animal abuse that were just too much for me. All in all I would say the writing is beautiful in spots. The author has a wonderful way with words but this just wasn't the book for me. I really wanted to like it more.

[justjenniferreading · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This one took me a while to get into it. The writing was very "slow". Since I read this as part of a book group I didn't want to get to far ahead. So I'd read and get into the story, then when I got to the stopping point I found I had a hard time getting back into it. Had I read it straight through without stopping I probably would have liked it much more.I loved how the author gave everything a feeling. The landscape, the animals, everything was described to have a sens of feeling. It was a nice change, but I think it became a little to much, as it just seemed to drag the story down some.I didn't really get to connect with any of the characters. In fact there were some places in the book where I was confused as to who was talking, who was doing what, what was being done to who. I was just so lost at some points that it really frustrated me.The story, if you take out the "extra" was pretty good. And it was an endeering story about lost love, in many forms, and how that can affect a person their whole life. The relationships between the characters was sad, and that sad feeling was the tone of the entire book. Everything was just sad.I think if I had sat with this and read it straight through without taking breaks I would have liked it more. But as I said each time I picked it up I had to "get back into the story" and I think that took so much away from it for me.

[undermyappletree · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Literary fiction fans will love Bruce Machart’s debut novel The Wake Of Forgiveness. The book is beautifully written with poetic prose and vivid, descriptive passages of the land, the people and the events in their lives. Set in early 20th century rural Texas, the novel centers around Karel Skala as he struggles to find the purpose in his life and to understand his connections with the land and his family.The story begins with Karel’s birth and at the same time the death of his mother, Klara. His father, Vaclav, cannot accept losing the only woman he had ever been fond of. He turns back into the hard, bitter, man he was before he met her. He treats his horses and farm animals better than his sons and they never know the love of a family while they are growing up. Karel always longs for the touch of the mother he never knew. We follow Karel’s life as he becomes a man and learns about family through his own wife and children. Along the way he discovers what he has missed in life and eventually learns how to forgive both his brothers and his father.This was a difficult read for me. It is not a book you can breeze through. I often needed to re-read passages to understand what happened. The sentences are lengthy and at times I felt they were too long going on for half a page. I would have to stop and parse the sentence to understand what the author meant. There was not a lot of dialog; this was a very descriptive novel. Most of the subject matter was dark and gritty. For example there were detailed passages describing a cow that had died giving birth, more than a few passages about chewing tobacco and other unpleasantries of the times. However, it was so skillfully and artfully presented that I could almost see and smell the images that were created in my mind. While I would prefer to read about the smell of spring flowers or a freshly mowed meadow, I will say the author has done his job when the reader feels something even if it’s something unpleasant.The novel uses the technique of shifting back and forth in time. Occasionally I had to flip back to the beginning of the section to remember what time period I was in but overall I felt this enhanced the story. We read of events and consequences and eventually go back to an earlier time see how the pieces fit together like a puzzle in Karel’s life. It made the story more compelling than if it had been told in a linear fashion.Overall I liked the book and would recommend it to fans of the genre, but it is not for everyone. Bruce Machart is an enormously talented writer. He definitely did his research on the language and history of time period. My one disappointment was that the female characters were mostly relegated to the background. I would have liked to know more about them and their lives and history, especially Karel’s wife. They were portrayed as strong women but we never really got to know them.

[carolee888 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I am sorry that there are no half stars on this rating system; I believe that this book should be a 3.5 in my opinion. I just found out that this is Bruce Machart’s first novel. I think that words are his craft. The opening pages of the novel were beautifully written, I would not change anything, not one word. But there are some recommendations that I want to make as a reader. First of all, I do not like switching back and forth in time. One time or two times are easy to deal with but this book went from 1910 to 1898 to 1924 to 1910 to 1898 to 1924, to 1910 to 1924 and then lastly 1895. That is too much for me to keep straight. Also, there was no one to like. Usually one of the biggest hooks is for me to like the main character, if I do not; it is difficult to keep reading. There was a lot of cruelty in this novel like Vaclav Skala forcing his sons to pull the plow with their shoulders and resulting in a permanent crook to their necks. That might have been OK if there were no horse but the horses were there and not used to do any work. This book was too gritty for me. I would like this story much better a character that I liked or could identify with in the story. What is promising is the Bruce Machart is a master at setting the scene down to the sound of a foot stepping on an acorn. The Wake of Forgiveness covers from 1895 to 1924 in mostly in a small fictional town in Northeast Texas. Bruce Machart brought the sights, sounds and smells of the era to life. I realize that real cruelty does exist in the history of United States. I remember hearing about a whole family being murdered close to where I once lived. It does become a strain to keep reading about the cruelty without out some kind of relief. There was a lot devoted to the thoughts and feelings of the characters but little conversation carrying the story forward. I think the author has great promise and hope that his next work is simpler as far as time periods and has someone to root for. I believe that if he did both of these things he could be a true spokesman for North east Texas history and be a great author. There were some small scenes that I will never forget in this book partially because I know that they were so true to the subject. This was a difficult book for me to read but I think that Mr. Machart could be a great author.I won this book from a Good Reads contest.

[libsue · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Picked up The Wake of Forgiveness because of all the glowing reviews. It is a slow, very dark and glorious read. I must admit though I did have to push myself to pick it up until about half way through, but it was worth it in the end. He has a wonderful way of describing the setting. but his characters could have been more well developed. Given the events within the story this reader should have been more emotionally impacted. Verdict: Machart paints pictures with his words-a writer to watch.

[nfmgirl2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Karel was raised by a hard man. Having lost his mother at birth, his life has been spent side-by-side with his older brothers, all of them carrying the yoke of their father (quite literally). As an adult, he is estranged from his brothers and free of his father, and riding on the "wake of forgiveness".Karel's father Vaclav is hard and cruel, and yet I can't help but feel a certain sympathy for him. The softness of his wife was torn from him. At that moment, his soul was bared and exposed, and quickly scabbed over to become scarred and hard. Part of me feels for him, but his cruelty is hard to comprehend.This book was tough for me at times. That isn't to say that it is a bad story, or that it was bad writing. Quite the contrary, I think that the writing was quite good. It simply wasn't "my type" of writing style. It didn't "flow" for me. The majority of this book was narrative. I'm a dialogue-kinda gal. That's probably why I like Stephen King. I have seen author Machart compared to Cormac McCarthy, and I am not a fan of McCarthy. So it stands to reason that I may not be a huge fan of Machart.So this was a "good" story. It didn't really grab me or excite me, but it was well-written. If you like stories of human heartache, filled with narrative and little dialogue, then definitely give this book a try.

[thelostentwife · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It took me a long time to read this book by debut author, Bruce Machart. I handpick my recommendations in this new format of reviews and, while the recommendation of The Road by Cormac McCarthy is a no-brainer, the other two took a bit more thought. Like my experience with The Road, this book had me flipping back and forth to remember details. I couldn't just read a chapter and then move on, most of the time I'd have to go back and re-read large sections of it to make sure I understood what was happening.The story is a powerful one. It begins with the death of a woman as she delivers her fourth child, a boy. It deals with the harsh treatment of a father's sons and the gentling influence of wives and mothers. It paints a stark, real picture of Texas and the politics between families and race.It's a beautifully written book, but the prose is written with such a heavy hand it's almost suffocating in points. This isn't a book to sit down with for a light read, you need to set aside time to really devote to it and to be content to read it in small portions, if needed, so - like me - you don't find yourself lost and going back to re-read.If you are a Cormac McCarthy fan - this book should greatly appeal to you.

[frisbeesage · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The Wake of Forgiveness is a beautifully written story of hope and forgiveness set in the harsh landscape of Texas at the turn of the century. The book opens with the death of Vaclav Skala's wife as she gives birth to their fourth son. Utterly bereft Skala reverts to the brutal and unforgiving man he was before he married. He raises his sons with an iron fist, saving any kindness for the horses he shrewdly races to win his neighbor's land. Karel, the youngest son, grows up without ever having felt a loving touch, but his skill riding his father's race horses gives him something to hold onto. As the boys get older the balance of power begins to shift until one night when the last horse race determines the fate of all of them. Wake of Forgiveness was, hands down, my favorite book of 2010. Machart's gorgeous prose perfectly evoked the dusty, rough, hard-bitten life of Texas in the early 1900's. He is really one of those rare writers who pulled me into the setting and made me feel the physical reality of the story. What really made this book shine for me was the fact that Machart always allows his characters a ray of hope, a chance for redemption, and the opportunity to change their own lives. In the end, Wake of Forgiveness isn't about the violence and desperation, but rather about the love, determination, and hard work that can beat them. I plan on giving this book to everyone I know!

[coppers_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The title is intriguing, but it was the gorgeous face that graces the cover that drew me in. The opening scene held me tight.“...the past comes to meet the present, the connection between the two no less certain than the tethers strung taut through time between a man’s father and son.”The Wake of Forgiveness is a moving, character driven story that unfolds slowly with beautiful, lyrical prose. A story of family bonds, love, alienation and forgiveness. It is arrestingly structured and the descriptive language perfectly offsets the violence in this grimly dramatic, yet ultimately uplifting tale of a fractured family and the events that shaped their lives in early 20th century south Texas.A literary Western that will stick with me and fans of Larry McMurtry, Kent Haruf, and Annie Prouix should take note of this impressive debut. Very highly recommended.

[salander_9277 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Bruce Machart's debut novel is a smash hit. His crushing imagery and realistic dramatic prose make this easily one of the best novels of the year. Machart slips between time periods in Karel Skala's life seamlessly to tell a tale of early 20th century American drama. Karel has a lot to forgive and be forgiven for; a life of hardship without a mother, abuse and neglect from his unaffectionate father, love for a girl that doesn't belong to him. The way Machart describes physical pain, environmental imagery, and emotional confusion is mind blowing. I will definitely be watching for his next release.

[gcplreader · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The literary writing is the star in this Western. Hardened by the death of his wife during childbirth (this told in the incredible opening chapter), Vaclav Skala raises his 4 sons on their Texas cotton farm and races horses to acquire more land. His youngest son Karel is an amazing rider and the descriptions of the freerange racing are exciting. One day a wealthy Mexican landowner challenges Vaclav to a race to win 3 husbands for his daughters. The outcome of the race changes everything and propels the rest of the novel through its alternating time frames.My only fault finding would be the later story of the hired hands, which I found rather confusing, although the payoff is excellent. recommended for the beautiful writing by this first time novelist