14th
By Sue Cruise
()
About this ebook
Bud Ritter has a pretty good life. A great marriage, plenty of friends, a satisfying career...but when Bud and his eight siblings return to the quiet, coastal town of Galveston, Texas to lay their mother to rest, an unsettled feeling tugs at his heart, telling him something is amiss. The days surrounding the funeral are further complicated by Bud’s frustrating quest to reconnect with Murph, an old pal from the best days of boyhood.
Although the family has come together to bury the family matriarch, the mood is far from somber. Tender sadness is blended with vibrant recollections of growing up on Galveston Island during the turbulent and exciting days of the 1960s. As the brothers and sisters trade favorite stories, the home they lived in decades earlier, a modest and aging structure on 14th Street, becomes the focal point for memories of a wonderful time and place forever imprinted on their hearts. Over the course of a week, Bud and the other Ritters share humorous tales that occasionally border on absurdity, but they also reflect on times of poignancy, pain and family secrets. Life had been far from perfect for the Ritter kids, and carefree moments of youthful joy were tempered by financial difficulties and an overly harsh father.
Undeniably, the old homestead on 14th Street still exerts a strong and intoxicating influence on the children of Karl and Helen Ritter, and before the events surrounding the funeral have ended, an amusing plan is hatched for the entire clan to revisit the home and neighborhood they knew so well, so long ago. As the week draws to a close, Bud discovers that it is not just wistful memories behind the inexorable tug that drew the family back to 14th Street, and along the way he stumbles upon a triumphant, life-affirming message.
Seen through the eyes of a little boy, and told from the heart of a man, 14th captures the sights, sounds and essence of the sixties...a time before cable TV, Youtube and video games, when children were forever outdoors, exploring an island-sized world of running, biking, and swimming; a place where kids played for hours at long forgotten games such as kick-the-can or bottle-cap baseball; a world where neighbors dropped by and lingered for hours on the front porch, chatting, laughing and whiling away the balmy summer evenings.
Strong, genuine characters and genuine relationships make this a fast read, a book for a day at the beach. Sue Cruise’s witty and engaging novel is a tour de force that will carry the reader away on a salty breeze to a past that is undeniably magical, with a promise that today might just be the someday we’ve all been waiting for.
Sue Cruise
Sue Cruise is a Language Arts instructor with an abiding love for good food and live music. Before teaching, Sue was a captain in the U.S. Army, with multiple deployments to the Middle East. She has family roots deep in the sands of Texas beaches, and currently resides in the Hill Country. Sue is thrilled that her debut novel is receiving critical praise: "14th delivers a cohesive account of childhood that teems with humor and occasional serious moments that are touching. A nostalgic little gem of a novel, with a quietly powerful message." KIRKUS REVIEWS
Related to 14th
Related ebooks
Brave: How I rebuilt my life after love turned to hate Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Forgiveness: A Memoir Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Memoirs of a Wonderful Life: Margie’S Fighting Spirit Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDid You Know We Had a Screen Door? Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Gwythienian: Odan Terridor Trilogy, #1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAlan The Christmas Donkey: The little donkey who made a big difference Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Sunshine & Shadow Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMe 'n' Shorty Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSaving a Prince Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBreaking Silence Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMy Pandemic Paradox: A Memoir Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPhoenix: The Stardust Series, #1 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Fencing Champion Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Lady in the Pink Stilettos: (After losing her memory she didn’t recognise her husband, her children... or her own reflection.) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOnce and Again: Doors Are Made for Walking Through Not Just Once . . . but Once and Again Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Cigar Box Full of Short Stories Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPicture Perfect Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Christmas Sweater Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Harley-Awakening Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Crossing Boarders Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAll That Glitters Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Red Ochre Falls Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTravelling Light: Thinking More About It Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNine Lives: The Heartbreak of Addiction Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOthers See Us Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Fix: Cupid's Choice, #3 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Synesthesia: A Memoir Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSnowed In Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
General Fiction For You
The Covenant of Water (Oprah's Book Club) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Unhoneymooners Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Labyrinth of Dreaming Books: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cloud Cuckoo Land: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dante's Divine Comedy: Inferno Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Life of Pi: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Priory of the Orange Tree Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Man Called Ove: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Fellowship Of The Ring: Being the First Part of The Lord of the Rings Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Silmarillion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The City of Dreaming Books Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Jackal, Jackal: Tales of the Dark and Fantastic Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Ocean at the End of the Lane: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Shantaram: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Everything's Fine Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Nettle & Bone Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The King James Version of the Bible Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Candy House: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ulysses: With linked Table of Contents Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5It Ends with Us: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pet Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Other Black Girl: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Cabin at the End of the World: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Beartown: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Meditations: Complete and Unabridged Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Canterbury Tales Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Beyond Good and Evil Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for 14th
0 ratings0 reviews