Bicentennial Eve: A Wisconsin Novella is a gentle,
slice-of-life tale of a family on the eve of America’s 200th birthday. As the
cast of characters go about their day, each struggles with their own hopes,
dreams, and regrets. From Grandma Kitty’s quest for some adventure to young
Skylar’s search for a taste of first love, each family member is looking for a
little independence of their own against the backdrop of a changing country.
Bicentennial Eve
is like spending the day with your best friends. There’s a picnic later, and
watching the fireworks together. It should be nice and quiet this year without
the snooty crowd from Chicago. You know them well – Joe and Claire – and their
daughters. Skylar is a new teen, tall and self-consciously awkward, enduring
her first crush. Grace is in college now, doing who knows what, but Claire
trusts her. Joe’s brother Rob lives a few blocks away. His perpetually unhappy
wife Amy is good. Probably for good, but Rob, a school teacher, needs to face
reality, like Joe who was laid off and drives too far every day to a crummy
job. Claire’s sister will be there, too. But Grandma Kitty is secretly taking
off on a cross-country trip with her girlfriend to visit the places she’s
always wanted to see.
As a bonus, Jacob moves the family into the future, twenty-five and fifty years, so we can glimpse how the events of that day in 1976 played out.
Well
done with lovingly drawn characters that any reader can identify with in all
walks of life at all ages. Each have desires, needs, and dreams and go for
life.
