Almost Home - by T M McNally (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Patrick, his sister, and his mother have come to Paradise Valley, Arizona, in the bitter aftermath of his father's suicide. As his mother turns to alcohol for solace and his sister finds companionship in the town's wild crowd, Patrick spends lonely days in school and works the graveyard shift at a local gas station. His isolation ends with the arrival of Elizabeth, a talented musician with family problems of her own. The depth of their feelings emerges when a drug-dealing co-worker involves Patrick in a scheme that not only tests his courage but his loyalty -- to his family, to the memory of his father, and to Elizabeth. Almost Home is an engaging exploration of the relationships between coincidence and providence, betrayal and forgiveness, love and salvation.

Review Quotes

Edie Jarolim The New York Times Book Review Edgy...remarkably free of coming-of-age clichés. McNally doesn't believe in easy solutions to complicated problems, and his plotting is consistently sharp.

Andrea Barrett author of The Voyage of the Narwhal Shocks us in all the best ways: through the reckless beauty of its language, through its stunning honesty, and through its understanding of the deepest heart of desire.

Susan Thomson St. Louis Post-Dispatch McNally...succeeds in the nearly impossible task of writing a teenage tale for grown-ups.

About the Author

T. M. McNally is the author of Low Flying Aircraft, winner of the Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction, and Until Your Heart Stops, a New York Times Notable Book. He teaches in the Creative Writing program at Arizona State University.