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After being summoned home by the news of his mother's heart attack, John Tremont is forced to confront his own middle age.While John's mother begins to make an astonishing recovery, his father deteriorates; having long ago handed over the running of his life to his domineering wife, he is unable to cope without her. With the help of his nineteen-year-old son, John assumes the role of carer. Before long, John finds himself caught between his son's feckless impatience to get on with his life and his father's heartbreaking willingness to let go, as both sons become trapped in the consuming, terrifying and repetitive world of looking after a dying loved-one.Brilliantly capturing the relationship between sons and fathers with humour and poignancy, Dad is a story of the love that binds generations of fathers and sons.
When John Tremont returns home to care for his ailing parents, he finds himself caught in a complex, multi-generational struggle between his own aging father and his impatient teenage son. John must navigate the shifting power dynamics of his family as his mother recovers and his father begins a slow, confusing decline. The narrative, presented through a lens of domestic realism, explores the physical and emotional toll of caregiving. John is forced to reconcile his identity as both a son and a father while managing the conflicting needs of the two men in his life.
This work is characterized by its unflinching examination of the domestic sphere and the quiet, often invisible labor of caregiving. The narrative structure suggests a focus on the psychological weight of duty, highlighting how individual identities are often subsumed by the needs of aging relatives. Readers likely find the portrayal of the father-son dynamic to be a study in patience and the inevitable friction that arises when roles are reversed. The prose leans into the mundane realities of life, creating a grounded atmosphere that emphasizes the gravity of the characters' choices and their emotional endurance.
Page Count:
448
Publication Date:
2014-07-21
Publisher:
The Friday Project
ISBN-10:
0007458002
ISBN-13:
9780007458004
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