by
Photographs deceive. They hide as much as they reveal.
Caroline Jantz listens to and reflects on the tales of five members of her family, stories that change the perceptions she has of them, but more profoundly, change her place with them in her life and in the stories they tell. These accounts center around recently-discovered family photographs, some from albums, some from dusty old attics, but all long forgotten.
Caroline’s Uncle Jesse is charming, cunning, and deceitful, and few can resist his allure until he loses control of his carefully-constructed life. Caroline’s mother, Darlene, wants a family different from that of her parents but pays a price for it higher than most of us would ever want to pay. Caroline’s brother Tim returns home after a life adrift but finds that the definition of home has taken a turn he and this family never expected. Her brother, Theodore, was born a child prodigy with an astonishing memory and an exceptional singing voice, but lives an unremarkable, unfulfilling life which, in the end, is not overlooked. Through conversations with his daughter, Vernon Jantz finds redemption and hope for a new life after losing his family through his mistakes.
Caroline and her family seek answers to simple, but profoundly challenging questions that have been asked since humans began living and speaking. “Who am I?” “What is family?” and “What am I living for?”
(400 pages)
