Here Lies A Father

Fifteen-year-old Ian Daly’s moral universe is turned upside down when, at his father’s funeral, he discovers that his father had two secret families.

When Ian Daly and his sister Catherine arrive for their wayward father’s funeral in his small and desolate Upstate New York hometown, a secret that was kept from them their entire lives emerges: their father Thomas abandoned two other families, leaving behind two furious wives and several children who never knew their father.

For as long as Ian can remember, his own family has covered up for Thomas’s alcoholism and bipolar disorder. Now, Ian wants to know the truth, but is met with resistance from his own sister and their mother, who want to preserve the carefully constructed myth they’ve created around who Thomas really was.

In the cold, lonely winter landscape of small-town New York, fifteen-year-old Ian sets out alone to learn the truth about his father’s past and the families he left behind. Here Lies a Father examines the long-term effects shameful secrets have on a family, and how difficult it is for a young man to reconstruct his own sense of right and wrong, when every value and moral principle he was ever taught was based on a lie.

Universul moral al lui Ian Daly, in varsta de 15 ani, este rasturnat cand, la inmormantarea tatalui sau, el descopera ca tatal sau avea doua familii secrete. Orasul natal din York, iese la iveala un secret care le-a fost ascuns toata viata: tatal lor Thomas a abandonat alte doua familii, lasand in urma doua sotii furioase si cativa copii care nu si-au cunoscut niciodata tatal. De cand isi amintesc Ian, propria lui familie a acoperit pentru alcoolismul lui Thomas si tulburarea bipolara.