- ASIN: B0BPRKDW5N
- Publication date: December 11, 2022
- Language: English
- Genre: US Literary Fiction
The BookViral Review:
Powerful and bittersweet, The Breedlow Legacy’s understated narrative yields genuine depth whilst being a triumph of close observation and telling details.
It is easy to analyze the mechanism of a good story but more often than not more difficult to explain why a select few are as moving as they are. Yet with The Breedlow Legacy, it’s not only the manner through which the characters are revealed to us but McNamara’s fascinating exploration of memory and of how the truths we tell ourselves come to impact the lives of those closest to us.
The potential for melodrama continuously bubbles beneath the surface of McNamara’s narrative and yet The Breedlow Legacy is not about grand, tormented revelations. Instead, it’s an accretion of little moments, invariably deep, occasionally funny, sometimes a little sad, but always embedded in the reality of McNamara’s sharply drawn, idiosyncratic characters.
These characters are Daniel Breedlow, a retired public relations executive and his estranged niece Maggie and here McNamara writes with such directness and a good ear for everyday speech that the characters seem real and plausible after only a few words. And Daniel makes no apologies for saying exactly what he’s thinking, without the filters of political correctness.
In a novel like The Breedlow Legacy, the reader might expect a moment when an ordinary statement becomes crucial, perhaps revealing blinding glimpses into the nature of our own lives; but Daniel has no regrets. He does not fit into a schematic log line, he simply is, and he comes to life with an intensity few authors can manage because of the singular way McNamara defines him.
A superbly written and exceptionally rewarding read for discerning readers The Breedlow Legacy is unreservedly recommended!