Code magazine Compelling, wistful, and ultimately filled with wisdom and hope....For all those children who wonder why they fathers leave, for all those parents who wonder what happens inside their kids' heads when they do, this book is for you.
Description
RM Johnson's extraordinary novel is a stirring family portrait that resonates with emotion and wit, as a father faces death—and the three sons he abandoned so many years before.
“Mr. Harris, I'm sorry, but you have cancer.” Although devastated to learn he has just one year to live, fifty-five-year-old Julius Harris has always known that the day would come when he would pay for walking out on his wife and three children twenty years earlier. Now, with a sudden and passionate determination to make his family whole again, Julius begins trying to find a way back to his sons.
Caleb, the youngest, struggling to support a son and make his way in a relentless world, couldn't care less about his own absentee father. Middle son Marcus can't abide even his father's memory, which gets in the way of his committing to the one woman who has turned his life around. And Austin, Julius' eldest child, so adores what he remembers of his father that he's following in his footsteps, abandoning his wife and children just as Julius had done.
Inspired by RM Johnson's own fragile family history, The Harris Men is his poignant exploration of the increasing problem of absentee fathers—and of the compromises made by the families they leave behind. As the Harris men grapple with their fears and their choices, Johnson gets to the very heart of what it means to be a man.
Reviews
E. Lynn Harris This story is so compassionately and truthfully written that with it, men will undoubtedly identify, and women will thankfully learn. The Harris Men is a superb novel. It is profoundly written, deeply engaging, and long overdue.
Mosaic Literary Magazine A critically honest stance that should set the standars for other books to come.
Library Journal First novelist Johnson's writing is clear and straightforward.... Readers will root for the underdog and welcome the subtle messages.... RM Johnson is an author to watch.
