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In the literary fiction novel Parting the Mend, Steve Coleman is a man living on the last ravaged, dangling thread. Once an accomplished athlete, Steve’s life has spiraled into substance abuse and fades to a destructive existence in a decrepit apartment he shares with the ghosts of his late wife and his past. When his parents die suddenly, Steve must work with his successful brother Marty, who privately deals with burgeoning addictions of his own, to sell the family home. As Steve’s life further splits from reality his behavior threatens to derail the increasingly essential sale and invade Marty’s personal and public life. When a final act could take a criminal turn, Steve is sent away for treatment by his exasperated brother
In a post-rehab search for relief and meaning for the future, Steve reconnects with his former basketball coach, Cleo Washington, and attempts to rid himself of the ever-present and very active spirit of his wife. Cleo, who is near the end of his career, knows it is time to turn over the local club team to another, gives Steve a last chance and offers him a position as an assistant. When the promotion to head coach happens sooner than expected the task may be too great for the unprepared and under motivated Steve; while across the hallway, new neighbors, with a tragic story of their own, force Steve into roles his new found sobriety is unequipped for. Lurking behind the Coleman brothers and drawn to each is Abcde/Abby, an artist suffering from multiple personalities that she cannot control. One may provide the balance needed in Steve’s life and the other the fulcrum that threatens Marty’s marriage.
Much like the life of an addict, the narrative is broken into pieces that long for completion, relaying the story through a combination of narrative, artifact and shifting points of view. Ideal for readers of With or Without You by Domenica Ruta who know that stories of recovery do not always conclude with redemption and those who embrace the notion in A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman that one life, no matter how lost or ragged, can influence and inspire so many others.
