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Recovering Charles by Jason F. Wright
Luke Millward is a man who does not know he is lost. His girlfriend loves him; his career is going well; and every night he falls asleep knowing that his life is good and meaningful. Only when the past reveals its twisted smile in a phone call and the disconnected voice asks him to come find his father in post-Katrina New Orleans is Luke compelled to find out what kind of man he truly is. Recovering Charles is for every family who's had its share of tough times, for anyone who regrets the things you've never said, for everyone who needs to know their life has a second verse.
Hardcover
First published January 1, 2008
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842 people want to read
About the author
Jason F. Wright
57 books588 followersJason Wright is a New York Times, Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestselling author.
Jason also writes an occasional column which has appeared in over 100 newspapers, magazines and web sites across the United States including The Washington Times, The Chicago Tribune, The Deseret News, Forbes, CNN, FoxNews, and others.
Jason is also a popular speaker who speaks on the miracle of opening doors, faith, failure, the Christmas Jars movement, the lost art of letter writing, and many other topics. He has been seen on CNN, FoxNews, C-SPAN, and on local television stations around the country.
Each year Jason visits schools across the country and presents assemblies and writing workshops to students at all ages.
Jason grew up in Charlottesville, Virginia, but has also lived in Germany, Illinois, Brazil, Oregon and Utah. In 2007, while researching Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley for his novel The Wednesday Letters, Jason fell so in love with the area that he moved his family westward from northern Virginia to Woodstock.
Jason is married to Kodi Erekson Wright. They have two girls and two boys they love, and two grandchildren they love even more.
Jason also writes an occasional column which has appeared in over 100 newspapers, magazines and web sites across the United States including The Washington Times, The Chicago Tribune, The Deseret News, Forbes, CNN, FoxNews, and others.
Jason is also a popular speaker who speaks on the miracle of opening doors, faith, failure, the Christmas Jars movement, the lost art of letter writing, and many other topics. He has been seen on CNN, FoxNews, C-SPAN, and on local television stations around the country.
Each year Jason visits schools across the country and presents assemblies and writing workshops to students at all ages.
Jason grew up in Charlottesville, Virginia, but has also lived in Germany, Illinois, Brazil, Oregon and Utah. In 2007, while researching Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley for his novel The Wednesday Letters, Jason fell so in love with the area that he moved his family westward from northern Virginia to Woodstock.
Jason is married to Kodi Erekson Wright. They have two girls and two boys they love, and two grandchildren they love even more.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 613 reviews
December 17, 2008
If ever a book was to get a "meh" rating, this would be it. Not bad but not necessarily good, Recovering Charles tells the story of a son who finds a way to forgive his alcoholic father by searching for him throughout the wake of Hurricane Katrina's devastation. Like most "meh" books, it has some highs and lows.
The highs would be the description of New Orleans. For the first time, I felt a deep sense of horror and urgency about saving that great city. Blame it on the over-saturation we get from the media, the almost non-stop global disasters whose images stream through our T.V.s and computers through-out the years, but I admit that I was not personally affected with New Orleans flooding. Reading this book didn't give me a complete turn around, but I do think it allowed me to feel how much was lost for the individual citizens there - albeit the people I was mourning for were completely fictional.
The lows included an unnecessary love story, a completely unnecessary love triangle, and a weak protagonist.
If you're interested in a story involving New Orleans and its recovery, you might enjoy this book. For anyone else...all I can say is...."meh."
The highs would be the description of New Orleans. For the first time, I felt a deep sense of horror and urgency about saving that great city. Blame it on the over-saturation we get from the media, the almost non-stop global disasters whose images stream through our T.V.s and computers through-out the years, but I admit that I was not personally affected with New Orleans flooding. Reading this book didn't give me a complete turn around, but I do think it allowed me to feel how much was lost for the individual citizens there - albeit the people I was mourning for were completely fictional.
The lows included an unnecessary love story, a completely unnecessary love triangle, and a weak protagonist.
If you're interested in a story involving New Orleans and its recovery, you might enjoy this book. For anyone else...all I can say is...."meh."
November 21, 2017
I absolutely loved this book! I have visited New Orleans before Katrina and was part of a mission group that went down to the coast to aid in rebuilding after the destruction. This book renewed many of those memories. Very well written! A must read!
October 17, 2010
This book is written appropriately in short sentences that provide the reader with vivid images, considering that the main character in the book is a photographer. The author does a beautiful job organizing two timelines of his character's present grown-up life in Manhattan, NY as a photographer and his childhood in Texas.
Luke Millward sits in his studio appartment and obssessively watches the news as they show New Orleans under water... images that perhaps we all have seen in the news when Hurricane Katrina hit. It reads like nonfiction and many times I had to remind myself that while the images were things I had seen on TV and in person in Biloxi, MS, that the story itself was not real. The research on the hurricane had been done very well.
The father-son relationship has been captured very well. The estranged son that has dealt with his drunk father for many years after his mother's death. The emotional denial about his father... and the incredible twist as the book nears the end. All wonderfully written...
However, the weakness of the book I must say is Luke's relationship with his best friend Jordan. I understood the friendship completely. I understood that Jordan wanted more from the relationship and they had never been romantically involved and he was sure he wanted her in his life, but not as a romantic partner. He was supposed to fall in love at first sight. That was set up when Charles Millward tells his son how love at first sight feels.
So, he meets Bela. Love at first sight. I am not a believer of that, but it worked alright for the story... when the scene with Jordan, the best friend, and Luke take place after his return from New Orleans... when she tells him to "go find her" was so weak. First, when was Bela lost? Then, Jordan says her "not a good bye" then there they are everyone minus Jordan. Jordan should be there with him as the story ends because they don't stop being best friends. I was completely okay with the entire story and very satisfied as a reader until I got this feeling that Luke could always have either Bela or Jordan in his life, but not both at the same time (one as a best friend and the other as a romantic partner). I really thought the book would be much stronger if there was a scene where both Jordan and Bela have an interaction with eachother. That would've given a much better resolution to the book.
Overall, It was an okay book. I liked it because of the imagery and photographs shown (without a real prose) of Hurricane Katrina... BUT some of the relationships needed some work. The dialogue was well done. I felt like the author got sick of writing it and rushed to the end of the story.
I would not recommend this book to anyone who is still sensitive to the events of Hurricane Katrina, specially in New Orleans.
Luke Millward sits in his studio appartment and obssessively watches the news as they show New Orleans under water... images that perhaps we all have seen in the news when Hurricane Katrina hit. It reads like nonfiction and many times I had to remind myself that while the images were things I had seen on TV and in person in Biloxi, MS, that the story itself was not real. The research on the hurricane had been done very well.
The father-son relationship has been captured very well. The estranged son that has dealt with his drunk father for many years after his mother's death. The emotional denial about his father... and the incredible twist as the book nears the end. All wonderfully written...
However, the weakness of the book I must say is Luke's relationship with his best friend Jordan. I understood the friendship completely. I understood that Jordan wanted more from the relationship and they had never been romantically involved and he was sure he wanted her in his life, but not as a romantic partner. He was supposed to fall in love at first sight. That was set up when Charles Millward tells his son how love at first sight feels.
So, he meets Bela. Love at first sight. I am not a believer of that, but it worked alright for the story... when the scene with Jordan, the best friend, and Luke take place after his return from New Orleans... when she tells him to "go find her" was so weak. First, when was Bela lost? Then, Jordan says her "not a good bye" then there they are everyone minus Jordan. Jordan should be there with him as the story ends because they don't stop being best friends. I was completely okay with the entire story and very satisfied as a reader until I got this feeling that Luke could always have either Bela or Jordan in his life, but not both at the same time (one as a best friend and the other as a romantic partner). I really thought the book would be much stronger if there was a scene where both Jordan and Bela have an interaction with eachother. That would've given a much better resolution to the book.
Overall, It was an okay book. I liked it because of the imagery and photographs shown (without a real prose) of Hurricane Katrina... BUT some of the relationships needed some work. The dialogue was well done. I felt like the author got sick of writing it and rushed to the end of the story.
I would not recommend this book to anyone who is still sensitive to the events of Hurricane Katrina, specially in New Orleans.
January 4, 2010
I would love to be able to give this book 2.5 stars. It's about a man's quest to find his estranged father in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. A really quick read. I felt like it was good up to about halfway. Interesting to read about what New Orleans was like in the weeks right after the storm. I really liked that aspect. Then it started to get a little trite and over cliche-d. I also really didn't like the end of the book and felt there would have been much better ways to wrap it all up...it seemed like the author got to the end and just kind of wanted to hurry up and finish it so he typed up the first thing he thought of and shipped it off. I wasn't all that happy about the little "love triangle" he created either. Instead of feeling like the main character (Luke) ended up with the right one, I felt like he was a really big jerk. And I didn't feel like Luke changed any or learned anything and I feel that learning and changing was a main theme the author was trying to convey to me. It could have been so much better. On the whole, I liked it OK...it was a good book to pass the time.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 3, 2009
This book took me a while to get through... the first part is extremely slow & repetitive...(i.e. mundane details about what the character ate for breakfast, doesn't really have anything to do with the story-line!) But it gets better at Part 2. And while I thought I saw the ending, I was pleased to see it be different than I expected...
I suppose some would think this story heart-warming, but I have to admit, I was a little bored.
*Spoiler* I was also unimpressed with the main character's relationships with Jordan and Bela... there was so much talk about how faithful, and loving Jordan was, but when he so quickly fell in love with Bela... and Jordan was okay with that... I didn't buy it...
Also... *Big Spoiler* who shows up at a funeral in white with a purple parasol... who even uses parasols anymore??
It felt like the author was trying to write this epic story about Katrina, and reconciliation, but there was so much fluff & nonsense to get through that it just became easy to skip through. If Wright had left out the repetitive stories, and the lengthy details about the food & sleeping conditions, I think it would've kept my attention better.
I suppose some would think this story heart-warming, but I have to admit, I was a little bored.
*Spoiler* I was also unimpressed with the main character's relationships with Jordan and Bela... there was so much talk about how faithful, and loving Jordan was, but when he so quickly fell in love with Bela... and Jordan was okay with that... I didn't buy it...
Also... *Big Spoiler* who shows up at a funeral in white with a purple parasol... who even uses parasols anymore??
It felt like the author was trying to write this epic story about Katrina, and reconciliation, but there was so much fluff & nonsense to get through that it just became easy to skip through. If Wright had left out the repetitive stories, and the lengthy details about the food & sleeping conditions, I think it would've kept my attention better.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 14, 2008
I truly appreciated a first-hand look at post-Katrina, New Orleans, without the biased, self-serving spin of the media or political figures. The story was charming and carried me along beautifully until the last chapter.
Wright spends the whole book weaving us into a very conflicted dysfunctional family. His main character has spent years trying to come to grips with his emotional baggage. Then, at the very height of all the drama, in a "pulled the rug out from under you" kind of move, he wraps it all up a few contrived pages. The ending felt very artificial, not at all natural for this character he so carefully dissected through the previous 200+ pages.
But it was still worth reading to gain an accurate perspective of this sobering event.
Wright spends the whole book weaving us into a very conflicted dysfunctional family. His main character has spent years trying to come to grips with his emotional baggage. Then, at the very height of all the drama, in a "pulled the rug out from under you" kind of move, he wraps it all up a few contrived pages. The ending felt very artificial, not at all natural for this character he so carefully dissected through the previous 200+ pages.
But it was still worth reading to gain an accurate perspective of this sobering event.
November 22, 2008
Absolutely one of the worst books I have ever read. I know this sounds harsh but I think a combination of the writing style, the bland dialogue, the anti-climactic ending.....and a lot of other worthless things between the pages. The only problem with me is when I committ to read a book, it doesn't matter how bad it is....I must finish. I becomes personal and much like this book-it became a challenge. I've met the challenge and can gratefully move on...
November 23, 2008
A stirring relationship between a son and his father about love, forgiveness and the emotional connections with the past. Can Luke survive all these emotional burdens? What will he do with the knowledge he gains? Can he heal? Will he move forward?
The setting is New Orleans during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. I grew to love the city (I’ve never visited) from the descriptions in the book.
Written by an LDS author but without any clues to his religion therein other than good values, etc. It’s all about second chances and healing from the past—very integral theme’s in the LDS beliefs.
***WARNING*****The following has plot give-aways****
The second to last chapter, particularly page 275 filled me with to much pain and regret for Luke’s past pride and the love he missed out on that my throat tightened and water pained behind my eyes. After rebuking myself for getting emotionally caught up in a fictitious story, I considered the lessons to be learned.
As I was bugged that he didn’t show more love and forgiveness for his father throughout the story particularly when his father tried so hard to reach out to him by sending him packages, I had to remind myself of the pain Luke must feel. When I wanted to rebuke him for not staying and letting the people in New Orleans explain, I realized that he was at an emotional flood having just learned that his father was dead and that these people deceived him.
I wasn’t too thrilled about the love at first sight theme. I think that’s the stuff of silly fairy tales. I wanted him to end up with his best friend not the hot new thing. But it makes sense that he had to have a companion that he loved in return.
I visited the book’s website and the author’s blog. I listened to one of my favorite musicians there who wrote the song for the book. Although I liked the song, I don’t think it was very fitting since it had no jazzy feel. It didn’t possess the feel of the book.
All I know is that I’VE GOT TO HAVE A JAZZ PARADE AT MY FUNERAL! How fantastic!
The setting is New Orleans during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. I grew to love the city (I’ve never visited) from the descriptions in the book.
Written by an LDS author but without any clues to his religion therein other than good values, etc. It’s all about second chances and healing from the past—very integral theme’s in the LDS beliefs.
***WARNING*****The following has plot give-aways****
The second to last chapter, particularly page 275 filled me with to much pain and regret for Luke’s past pride and the love he missed out on that my throat tightened and water pained behind my eyes. After rebuking myself for getting emotionally caught up in a fictitious story, I considered the lessons to be learned.
As I was bugged that he didn’t show more love and forgiveness for his father throughout the story particularly when his father tried so hard to reach out to him by sending him packages, I had to remind myself of the pain Luke must feel. When I wanted to rebuke him for not staying and letting the people in New Orleans explain, I realized that he was at an emotional flood having just learned that his father was dead and that these people deceived him.
I wasn’t too thrilled about the love at first sight theme. I think that’s the stuff of silly fairy tales. I wanted him to end up with his best friend not the hot new thing. But it makes sense that he had to have a companion that he loved in return.
I visited the book’s website and the author’s blog. I listened to one of my favorite musicians there who wrote the song for the book. Although I liked the song, I don’t think it was very fitting since it had no jazzy feel. It didn’t possess the feel of the book.
All I know is that I’VE GOT TO HAVE A JAZZ PARADE AT MY FUNERAL! How fantastic!
July 22, 2025
Today's date is June 2025 and I'm preparing to leave for Washington DC, my first time ever visit to a single adult conference made up entirely of members of the LDS church. Jason F. Wright, author of "Christmas Jars" is going to be at the conference presenting a workshop on the charity project he's involved in. There will be lots of fun activities, Sister Kristen Yee of the RS gen pres will also be speaking to us. I might as well go. Who knows, maybe I'll even meet that certain young man at the conference.
I'll have Jason sign my "Christmas Jars" book, but, wait a minute. Have I never read anything else by this author? That's when I rediscovered this book hiding in a pile of other books I've never gotten around to reading. Inside the book on the blank page (verso) is a sticker from LDSTORYMAKERS CONFERENCE 2009 meaning this was an advance copy #88 of 288 with a small probably stamped signature of our author included.
I did meet Jason at the conference. He happily signed my "Jars" book. I showed him this book "Recovering Charles" and he was all "Wows!" seeing the date and the sticker. "Was I at this conference?" he asked. No, they were just handing them out. "Tell you a secret about this book," he said to me. Apparently he did a ton of research, went to New Orleans and saw it all for himself and it became very personal for him. This book was published in 2008.
I didn't have the heart to tell him I was currently only halfway through the book, having started it a few days before leaving on this trip, and still having a hard time committing to it through to the end. His characterization, plotting, pacing, everything just...sucked.
We start with a Prologue told in first person, the main character's name I've already forgotten but his father is the "Charles" in the title. Charles is a brilliant musician, went to school and became an architect, married but mom/wife was addicted to sleeping pills up until the day she died. See her mom, the narrator's grandma, died a sudden unexpected death and mom/wife never got over it.
Charles never got over his wife's death.
Ten years passed and our narrator is living alone in Manhattan. He has a "special friend" a woman named Jordan but she is strictly in the friend zone, don't forget that. Luke Millward earns his living as a freelance photographer yet somehow he can afford a place in NYC in 2005.
The main plot complication is very weak. Luke's dad, Charles, is pretty much a bum. He turned to drinking after mom/wife died, blew all his money on frivolous purchases and gambling debts has no desire to return to his career as an architect and now wanders the country playing his saxophone living the romantic life of the modern day hobo. Whenever he runs out of money, he calls his only son and child, Luke. But Luke got tired of feeding his father's gambling and alcohol habits so they are now estranged. Haven't spoken in 2 years.
One day, August 2005, right in the middle of all the aftermath devastation of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, Luke gets an unusual call. His father is missing. Last seen here in the Big Easy and the only person in the world who can find him is Luke. All of Charles new best friends here in New Orleans, including a fiancée, are worried sick about him. Luke must come. He must come and recover his father. He's the only one who can do it. He is their only hope.
Luke sighs and after a day or two of deliberation, reluctantly agrees to make the drive down. When he FINALLY gets there after several chapters of the most boring road trip in literature, he finds the club his father hung out in, dazzling everyone with his amazing talent on the sax and piano. Run by a ragtag group of the most unlikely people.
Throughout all this narration, we have been treated to flashbacks to different scenes in Luke's childhood and teenage years, back when his mom acted like a mom, caring for him and his dad, baking cookies and stuff while his dad worked hard at his job, mowed the lawn and was always there being dad. Until Grandma died, mom snowballed into addiction and Charles never recovered. Pun intended.
Remember this is pre-smartphone era. Luke has only a cell phone and all he can do is text. He carries an expensive $3,000 camera to document this life changing road trip and all the human drama and suffering he'll capture. Maybe he'll win a Pulitzer for all this effort. After getting through all the road blocks and guards to the French Quarter and parking near the club his father both played and worked at earning the barest of minimum wages he exits the car and sees this...
Now, this next part is important foreshadowing, Ch 15 page 124, a funeral procession. A few shabby dressed men playing various marching band instruments, a single casket, and bringing up the rear a woman twirling a parasol. Luke snaps several pictures and moves on, curious about what he just saw but more interested in chatting up various locals to hear their stories and take more pictures amidst all the destruction of the recent storm.
The first person Luke meets upon entering the club where his father's picture is hanging on the front door with the words "Missing" scribbled on it in dark pen is the woman who will most definitely NOT be in Luke's friend zone. Her name is Bela. She comes from a mixed race ethnicity, brown skin, the longest legs in the world and straight shiny black hair. Luke is head over heels at first sight. He meets his father's fiancée, Jez, an African American woman who can easily attract men without the need of makeup. The fact she is black and he and his father are white doesn't bother Luke as much as the fact his father was planning to get remarried to a strange woman he only met six months ago and never bothered to call and tell him but these people have been expecting him and have a room for him to stay in all ready.
The next few chapters we follow Luke and his new friends as they make a few weak attempts to find Charles or Charlie as everyone here started calling him. Luke is taken to one of the worst sections of the city that still hasn't been touched yet by cleanup crews. The smell is so bad he throws up and is embarrassed. Another day passes and he goes on another search for his father while either Bela or Jez tell him more about Saint Charlie a man who went out of his way to help everyone he met, a man who started AA meetings and this time, to Luke's sarcastic amazement, he was on step 11 or whatever before the storm hit. Luke can't believe these two women and the other male friends who worked at this club are talking about the same man he's known all his life. They continue showing Luke around the city in halfhearted attempts to find his father.
One day they take a small boat over to where his father had a small studio apartment in someone's attic (because of course he and Jez never lived together and if they ever slept together, Luke was never told, and he never bothered to ask. All of these main characters are spiritual but not religious.) We haven't had a childhood flashback in several chapters, they just stop and we focus more on this mundane tale. At his father's place all of his personal belongings are in a neatly packed suitcase and a bunch of large plastic garbage bags sitting patiently waiting for them almost like they were expecting him. There is no water damage, all of it is dry. Everyone swears to Luke when they came here looking for Charlie it wasn't like this. Only one person could have done that. Charles. So, he's alive? Luke is hopeful. They haul everything back to the club in the French Quarter. Everyone else makes graceful exits leaving Bela and Luke to go through his father's things together. Bela gets very emotional but recovers and exits to run an errand. Alone, Luke pulls out his camera and laptop to download pics he took today.
Ch. 25 page 241. That's when he notices the older photos, like this one he took of the funeral procession his very first day here the city. Blowing it up on his computer screen-He KNOWS all of these people! There's Bela near the back of the procession walking next to Jez who is sobbing and carrying a large photo of an engagement picture for all the world to see. A picture of Jez and...his father. The funeral procession is his. His father is dead.
Which means everyone in New Orleans is a liar!
(Wait, who was the parasol twirling woman?)
So Luke wastes no time blowing this popsicle stand, packing his bags and leaving. Never mind everyone trying to get him to stop and hear what happened. This was what his father wanted, for him to come and not be told he was already dead. Bela is sobbing so hard she's shaking. Jez is also crying, apologizing. He changed, Luke. He become a new man and he wanted you to discover this.
It makes absolutely no sense.
During this entire story, Luke has been phoning and talking to Jordan who was his supporter from a distance the whole time. He asked her to call Jez and get the details of his father's death for him. She agreed. He drives back to New York, walks into his apartment and finds Jordan waiting for him along with, Jez?! She flew up at Jordan's insistence while Luke was driving. She refused to tell Jordan anything over the phone, Jez has to tell the story, in person, how his father died.
And the story is very anti-climax.
Luke and Jez take a walk. The hurricane hit, they were all bunkered down at the club but by 5am Charlie was anxious to get back to his place to make sure everything was okay. He took a cell phone and promised to call them as soon as he was there, only a 3 mile walk. He called but only to report he saw a neighbor in need and was stopping to help.
That was the last time they would ever speak to him. They figure he just kept helping another neighbor and another. Then the levee broke. According to the eyewitnesses they spoke to, this incredible man was carrying a little old lady who lost her oxygen tank through chest deep water, handed her off to a rescue worker who got her the help she needed but when he returned to the scene, where an exhausted Charles had laid down on the grass to rest, he was still there, not moving, the heat had taken his life. They had to hold a funeral right away and figured Luke wasn't going to bother coming. The casket was actually empty. If Luke wants to recover his father's body and bury it anywhere but down there in New Orleans he can return ASAP and do that.
Back at the apartment, Jordan sees a picture of Luke with Bela, immediately recognizes true love and who can compete with that, and makes a graceful exit. Luke is going to be okay, she reassures him. As for Luke's happy reunion with Bela, the real funeral, a graveside service is held in Texas, the Millward's hometown where Luke grew up. Of course Jez and all the gang from the New Orleans club are there too. Luke strokes his father's treasured saxophone. He found the unfinished song his father started writing years ago and even though Luke has, like, zero musical talent or interest, he and Bela sit down together near the grave, post funeral, and finish writing the song together.
The freakin' End
I'll have Jason sign my "Christmas Jars" book, but, wait a minute. Have I never read anything else by this author? That's when I rediscovered this book hiding in a pile of other books I've never gotten around to reading. Inside the book on the blank page (verso) is a sticker from LDSTORYMAKERS CONFERENCE 2009 meaning this was an advance copy #88 of 288 with a small probably stamped signature of our author included.
I did meet Jason at the conference. He happily signed my "Jars" book. I showed him this book "Recovering Charles" and he was all "Wows!" seeing the date and the sticker. "Was I at this conference?" he asked. No, they were just handing them out. "Tell you a secret about this book," he said to me. Apparently he did a ton of research, went to New Orleans and saw it all for himself and it became very personal for him. This book was published in 2008.
I didn't have the heart to tell him I was currently only halfway through the book, having started it a few days before leaving on this trip, and still having a hard time committing to it through to the end. His characterization, plotting, pacing, everything just...sucked.
We start with a Prologue told in first person, the main character's name I've already forgotten but his father is the "Charles" in the title. Charles is a brilliant musician, went to school and became an architect, married but mom/wife was addicted to sleeping pills up until the day she died. See her mom, the narrator's grandma, died a sudden unexpected death and mom/wife never got over it.
Charles never got over his wife's death.
Ten years passed and our narrator is living alone in Manhattan. He has a "special friend" a woman named Jordan but she is strictly in the friend zone, don't forget that. Luke Millward earns his living as a freelance photographer yet somehow he can afford a place in NYC in 2005.
The main plot complication is very weak. Luke's dad, Charles, is pretty much a bum. He turned to drinking after mom/wife died, blew all his money on frivolous purchases and gambling debts has no desire to return to his career as an architect and now wanders the country playing his saxophone living the romantic life of the modern day hobo. Whenever he runs out of money, he calls his only son and child, Luke. But Luke got tired of feeding his father's gambling and alcohol habits so they are now estranged. Haven't spoken in 2 years.
One day, August 2005, right in the middle of all the aftermath devastation of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, Luke gets an unusual call. His father is missing. Last seen here in the Big Easy and the only person in the world who can find him is Luke. All of Charles new best friends here in New Orleans, including a fiancée, are worried sick about him. Luke must come. He must come and recover his father. He's the only one who can do it. He is their only hope.
Luke sighs and after a day or two of deliberation, reluctantly agrees to make the drive down. When he FINALLY gets there after several chapters of the most boring road trip in literature, he finds the club his father hung out in, dazzling everyone with his amazing talent on the sax and piano. Run by a ragtag group of the most unlikely people.
Throughout all this narration, we have been treated to flashbacks to different scenes in Luke's childhood and teenage years, back when his mom acted like a mom, caring for him and his dad, baking cookies and stuff while his dad worked hard at his job, mowed the lawn and was always there being dad. Until Grandma died, mom snowballed into addiction and Charles never recovered. Pun intended.
Remember this is pre-smartphone era. Luke has only a cell phone and all he can do is text. He carries an expensive $3,000 camera to document this life changing road trip and all the human drama and suffering he'll capture. Maybe he'll win a Pulitzer for all this effort. After getting through all the road blocks and guards to the French Quarter and parking near the club his father both played and worked at earning the barest of minimum wages he exits the car and sees this...
Now, this next part is important foreshadowing, Ch 15 page 124, a funeral procession. A few shabby dressed men playing various marching band instruments, a single casket, and bringing up the rear a woman twirling a parasol. Luke snaps several pictures and moves on, curious about what he just saw but more interested in chatting up various locals to hear their stories and take more pictures amidst all the destruction of the recent storm.
The first person Luke meets upon entering the club where his father's picture is hanging on the front door with the words "Missing" scribbled on it in dark pen is the woman who will most definitely NOT be in Luke's friend zone. Her name is Bela. She comes from a mixed race ethnicity, brown skin, the longest legs in the world and straight shiny black hair. Luke is head over heels at first sight. He meets his father's fiancée, Jez, an African American woman who can easily attract men without the need of makeup. The fact she is black and he and his father are white doesn't bother Luke as much as the fact his father was planning to get remarried to a strange woman he only met six months ago and never bothered to call and tell him but these people have been expecting him and have a room for him to stay in all ready.
The next few chapters we follow Luke and his new friends as they make a few weak attempts to find Charles or Charlie as everyone here started calling him. Luke is taken to one of the worst sections of the city that still hasn't been touched yet by cleanup crews. The smell is so bad he throws up and is embarrassed. Another day passes and he goes on another search for his father while either Bela or Jez tell him more about Saint Charlie a man who went out of his way to help everyone he met, a man who started AA meetings and this time, to Luke's sarcastic amazement, he was on step 11 or whatever before the storm hit. Luke can't believe these two women and the other male friends who worked at this club are talking about the same man he's known all his life. They continue showing Luke around the city in halfhearted attempts to find his father.
One day they take a small boat over to where his father had a small studio apartment in someone's attic (because of course he and Jez never lived together and if they ever slept together, Luke was never told, and he never bothered to ask. All of these main characters are spiritual but not religious.) We haven't had a childhood flashback in several chapters, they just stop and we focus more on this mundane tale. At his father's place all of his personal belongings are in a neatly packed suitcase and a bunch of large plastic garbage bags sitting patiently waiting for them almost like they were expecting him. There is no water damage, all of it is dry. Everyone swears to Luke when they came here looking for Charlie it wasn't like this. Only one person could have done that. Charles. So, he's alive? Luke is hopeful. They haul everything back to the club in the French Quarter. Everyone else makes graceful exits leaving Bela and Luke to go through his father's things together. Bela gets very emotional but recovers and exits to run an errand. Alone, Luke pulls out his camera and laptop to download pics he took today.
Ch. 25 page 241. That's when he notices the older photos, like this one he took of the funeral procession his very first day here the city. Blowing it up on his computer screen-He KNOWS all of these people! There's Bela near the back of the procession walking next to Jez who is sobbing and carrying a large photo of an engagement picture for all the world to see. A picture of Jez and...his father. The funeral procession is his. His father is dead.
Which means everyone in New Orleans is a liar!
(Wait, who was the parasol twirling woman?)
So Luke wastes no time blowing this popsicle stand, packing his bags and leaving. Never mind everyone trying to get him to stop and hear what happened. This was what his father wanted, for him to come and not be told he was already dead. Bela is sobbing so hard she's shaking. Jez is also crying, apologizing. He changed, Luke. He become a new man and he wanted you to discover this.
It makes absolutely no sense.
During this entire story, Luke has been phoning and talking to Jordan who was his supporter from a distance the whole time. He asked her to call Jez and get the details of his father's death for him. She agreed. He drives back to New York, walks into his apartment and finds Jordan waiting for him along with, Jez?! She flew up at Jordan's insistence while Luke was driving. She refused to tell Jordan anything over the phone, Jez has to tell the story, in person, how his father died.
And the story is very anti-climax.
Luke and Jez take a walk. The hurricane hit, they were all bunkered down at the club but by 5am Charlie was anxious to get back to his place to make sure everything was okay. He took a cell phone and promised to call them as soon as he was there, only a 3 mile walk. He called but only to report he saw a neighbor in need and was stopping to help.
That was the last time they would ever speak to him. They figure he just kept helping another neighbor and another. Then the levee broke. According to the eyewitnesses they spoke to, this incredible man was carrying a little old lady who lost her oxygen tank through chest deep water, handed her off to a rescue worker who got her the help she needed but when he returned to the scene, where an exhausted Charles had laid down on the grass to rest, he was still there, not moving, the heat had taken his life. They had to hold a funeral right away and figured Luke wasn't going to bother coming. The casket was actually empty. If Luke wants to recover his father's body and bury it anywhere but down there in New Orleans he can return ASAP and do that.
Back at the apartment, Jordan sees a picture of Luke with Bela, immediately recognizes true love and who can compete with that, and makes a graceful exit. Luke is going to be okay, she reassures him. As for Luke's happy reunion with Bela, the real funeral, a graveside service is held in Texas, the Millward's hometown where Luke grew up. Of course Jez and all the gang from the New Orleans club are there too. Luke strokes his father's treasured saxophone. He found the unfinished song his father started writing years ago and even though Luke has, like, zero musical talent or interest, he and Bela sit down together near the grave, post funeral, and finish writing the song together.
The freakin' End
June 12, 2014
This book was a part of my "Why Did I Not Read These Books" challenge. And I am so glad that I chose this one to be a part of this challenge. Jason F. Wright is a first time read for me and I have to say I was not disappointed in this book. I was kind of surprised to see some of the low ratings for this book because I found it to be a great read, very touching, very emotional.
In this book we have a Luke who is a photo journalist and then we have Charles who is sax player. Charles can't deal with the loss of his wife and turns to alcohol and went off to live this empty life with calls back to his son to ask for money because he was tired, drunk and broke. Luke had no choice but to help his dad and then he would brush him off. Luke gets a call requesting his help in finding his father in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina.
I think the characters development was amazing in this book. So many to love in this story. I have to say I loved them all and it is hard to choose favorites. I have to say that Luke really touched me a lot along with Jez and Bela. Like I said very hard to choose. I think the author did so well with all of them, I felt like I knew them, like they were family.
The imagery in the book was also amazing, even though some of the scenes were very vivid, and also very heart wrenching, it made those of us who were not in the direct line of Katrina's aftermath, feel all those horrors that those people had to endure. I could almost place myself in New Orleans right along with all of them. There was also a great plot twist in the story that I did not expect and it just added another dimension to the story.
I would recommend this book to anyone. I find that it was very emotional and touching, and it was so very engaging. Another side to one of the worst of natural disasters this country has seen. If you get the chance to read it, please do.
In this book we have a Luke who is a photo journalist and then we have Charles who is sax player. Charles can't deal with the loss of his wife and turns to alcohol and went off to live this empty life with calls back to his son to ask for money because he was tired, drunk and broke. Luke had no choice but to help his dad and then he would brush him off. Luke gets a call requesting his help in finding his father in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina.
I think the characters development was amazing in this book. So many to love in this story. I have to say I loved them all and it is hard to choose favorites. I have to say that Luke really touched me a lot along with Jez and Bela. Like I said very hard to choose. I think the author did so well with all of them, I felt like I knew them, like they were family.
The imagery in the book was also amazing, even though some of the scenes were very vivid, and also very heart wrenching, it made those of us who were not in the direct line of Katrina's aftermath, feel all those horrors that those people had to endure. I could almost place myself in New Orleans right along with all of them. There was also a great plot twist in the story that I did not expect and it just added another dimension to the story.
I would recommend this book to anyone. I find that it was very emotional and touching, and it was so very engaging. Another side to one of the worst of natural disasters this country has seen. If you get the chance to read it, please do.
August 8, 2009
“Every life has a second verse” is the theme reiterated throughout Jason Wright’s latest novel, Recovering Charles. Luke Millward receives a phone call that turns his normal life upside down. On the heels of Hurricane Katrina, Luke is told that his father is missing in New Orleans. Estranged from his father for many years, Luke decides to make the journey and join in the search. The search for his father turns out to be a discovery of the soul—both past the present for Luke.
This novel was a wonderful, compelling read. I was caught up in the plight of the main character as he was swept into the devastation of Hurricane Katrina and started to put together bits of his past together as he tried to find his father. A great story that is universal in appeal—for anyone who believes in a second verse.
This novel was a wonderful, compelling read. I was caught up in the plight of the main character as he was swept into the devastation of Hurricane Katrina and started to put together bits of his past together as he tried to find his father. A great story that is universal in appeal—for anyone who believes in a second verse.
March 13, 2012
This book was so much fun for me to read! We went to church with the Wrights(the author) in Fair Oaks and then we moved out to the Woodstock Branch which so happens to be where Jason and his family live now... so anyway in this book he has used names of people he knows, so 90% of the characters names were of people I knew as well. It was so exciting to read and hear characters introduce who are actually like the person's real name, and also when characters are introduce who are nothing like their name sake (and laughing). Toward the end of the book a character is even introduced named "Castle" what a fantastic surprise! :)I really enjoyed my time reading it.
March 21, 2009
A quick read. This book is partially set in post-Katrina New Orleans. About a man's journey to his past. The imagery of New Orleans in those hellish times is stirring without being over the top.
I really like Jason Wright. His books are deep and piercing without being difficult. The themes can be deep or shallow depending on where you are in your life. I don't regret buying this book for my collection.
I really like Jason Wright. His books are deep and piercing without being difficult. The themes can be deep or shallow depending on where you are in your life. I don't regret buying this book for my collection.
February 8, 2009
I really enjoyed this story... the end surprised but made sense, I learned things about the Katrina aftermath that I didn't learn from the news coverage... I thought it was a beautifully written story with plenty of humor as well as insightful portrayals of human nature. I learned a little something about myself!
September 18, 2025
A moving and quick read that takes place in post-Katrina New Orleans. It was sad to read the things that the main character encountered when he was there, knowing these were things that really happened to the residents of NOLA.
I have enjoyed everything that I have read by this author since The Wednesday Letters. A Christian author, he also has some enjoyable Christmas books.
I have enjoyed everything that I have read by this author since The Wednesday Letters. A Christian author, he also has some enjoyable Christmas books.
March 3, 2009
This is a moving story about a man searching for his father after Hurricane Katrina. It really brings home how devastating this disaster was, and how things like this bring out amazing things in people.
July 25, 2009
This is a very predictable book about a young photographer who goes in to the aftermath of Katrina in search of his estranged father. Everyone he meets loves the guy so it is clear that when he actually finds him his opinion will be drastically altered.
July 9, 2009
I had extremely low expectations, but was pleasantly surprised. I enjoyed the subtle references to the Church. Gotta love those Mormon authors!
February 19, 2010
If you want an "outsider's" perspective of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, this is a good book. It gives yoiu a taste of the effects, with a story line and a twist!
January 7, 2016
I listened to this book narrated by the author. It was a good story but sad. It was a very realistic story. I could imagine this hitting home to many people.
January 3, 2019
A very readable first-person account of a conflicted character, Luke Millward, a photographer in NYC, who becomes steadily more difficult to like or even care about as the story unfolds. He has a low opinion of his alcoholic father and a very high opinion of pop culture and his own success at fitting into it. He has a very nice girlfriend named Jordan who tries to help him find himself by doing the right thing when his father, Charles, goes missing in Katrina-battered New Orleans. Reluctantly he drives to New Orleans, taking pictures as he goes. There he falls in love with Bela Cruz, a young student more alluring to him than poor Jordan - even though Bela turns out to be part of a well-intentioned (but shakily motivated) impromptu plot by Charles' friends to pull the wool over Luke's eyes as to his father's fate. In the end this novel asserts that Luke's father achieved some sobriety and redemption but I was left wondering about any prospective redemption for Luke. Perhaps a sequel may follow. There may be male readers who wish they might have ever had a girlfriend like Jordan! Female readers probably will think Jordan better off to have let Luke go - and hoping that Bela will be smart enough to do likewise. On the plus side, this author understands the value of concision - hardly any of the thirty chapters exceeds a dozen pages of large-type short-sentenced prose. The Afro-American characters are well-drawn and attractive - indeed Luke's father's fiancee and mourner, Jez, moved me. The devastation caused by Katrina and prescription pain killers is vividly and effectively portrayed and the importance of music in healing the human soul is eloquently advocated throughout.
October 15, 2018
Hurricane Katrina appeared on August, 23, 2015 and ended eight days later. The hurricane ended up causing the deaths of about 1,836 people. The amount of damages Hurricane Katrina did was around $125 billion. Hurricane Katrina was a category 5 above the water and was a category 3 when it made contact with the land. The hurricane hit most of the eastern united States. It's impact on New Orleans was mostly caused by the levees failure which caused 80% of New Orleans to be submerged. the aftermath of hurricane Katrina left the city in chaos and ruin with murder and looting all about the city though this was over exaggerated by the media. The city didn't have enough food and water to go around and many people were evacuated.
Recovering Charles was a genuinely well made book so even though it was no the normal genre I read it was still enjoyable. It showed a more personal perspective on hurricane Katrina as well as some interesting background information. it was adventure filled and fun. the writing used good descriptors and characters you learned know well. The book was full of twists and turns that kept interested. It makes you think about what you might do in that situation. I feel like it explained hurricane Katrina very well. I really liked how everything flowed it was very nice.
Recovering Charles was a genuinely well made book so even though it was no the normal genre I read it was still enjoyable. It showed a more personal perspective on hurricane Katrina as well as some interesting background information. it was adventure filled and fun. the writing used good descriptors and characters you learned know well. The book was full of twists and turns that kept interested. It makes you think about what you might do in that situation. I feel like it explained hurricane Katrina very well. I really liked how everything flowed it was very nice.
October 11, 2016
BR2
Recovering Charles is a heartwarming story, written by Jason F. Wright. Staged right after Hurricane Katrina Recovering Charles is a story of Luke Millward. He has been through so much, from his mother’s death to his father being a failing musician, “Charles Millward was born was born a brilliant musician.”
“Not exactly a brilliant player of music, but a remarkable musician all the same. He once told Mr. Dalton’s fifth grade class on Parent’s Day that if you listed American’s top ten thousand saxophone players he wouldn’t make the list.”
“Now kids, if the list only includes men who play the sax, and only men born in January, and only those with four smelly toes on their left foot because the fifth never popped out while I was cooking in Luke’s grandma’s belly, then I might make the list.”
Luke has a strong personality that has helped him through his hard times. He has persevered and made it through these hard time to get a college degree. He hasn’t talked to his father in four years but he is fine with not talking to him. Luke needs to forgive his father. Hurricane Katrina might be his answer.
America 2005, Hurricane Katrina hits the Gulf Coast. “New Orleans was underwater. The storm had come; the one the Gulf had always feared. Hurricane Katrina brushed Florida as a Category 1, killing eleven and leaving a million in the dark. Then it strengthened over the ocean and made landfall twice more, unleashing its fury on the Gulf Coast like a woman scorned. No mercy.”
“The French Quarter was mostly spared the flooding, but blocks away the water had baptized homes, businesses, nightclubs, and the homeless.”
“Cameras captured water gushing over one levee while a helicopter dropped giant sandbags on a gaping hole….”
In Recovering Charles this hurricane plays a big role. The setting of this book is heavily impacted by this event. Katrina sets the stage for Luke to find his Father. When Katrina hit New Orleans, Charles Millward was in the middle of the storm. After the storm hits Charles goes missing! Luke receives a phone call and sets out to look for his father. Luke sees the horrors of New Orleans. From bodies to the water filled streets and broken buildings and houses. Women and children living in the streets. He never imagined a scene like this.
This book is a perfect medium read. It is a realistic fiction book. There are 350 pages.
Recovering Charles is a heartwarming story, written by Jason F. Wright. Staged right after Hurricane Katrina Recovering Charles is a story of Luke Millward. He has been through so much, from his mother’s death to his father being a failing musician, “Charles Millward was born was born a brilliant musician.”
“Not exactly a brilliant player of music, but a remarkable musician all the same. He once told Mr. Dalton’s fifth grade class on Parent’s Day that if you listed American’s top ten thousand saxophone players he wouldn’t make the list.”
“Now kids, if the list only includes men who play the sax, and only men born in January, and only those with four smelly toes on their left foot because the fifth never popped out while I was cooking in Luke’s grandma’s belly, then I might make the list.”
Luke has a strong personality that has helped him through his hard times. He has persevered and made it through these hard time to get a college degree. He hasn’t talked to his father in four years but he is fine with not talking to him. Luke needs to forgive his father. Hurricane Katrina might be his answer.
America 2005, Hurricane Katrina hits the Gulf Coast. “New Orleans was underwater. The storm had come; the one the Gulf had always feared. Hurricane Katrina brushed Florida as a Category 1, killing eleven and leaving a million in the dark. Then it strengthened over the ocean and made landfall twice more, unleashing its fury on the Gulf Coast like a woman scorned. No mercy.”
“The French Quarter was mostly spared the flooding, but blocks away the water had baptized homes, businesses, nightclubs, and the homeless.”
“Cameras captured water gushing over one levee while a helicopter dropped giant sandbags on a gaping hole….”
In Recovering Charles this hurricane plays a big role. The setting of this book is heavily impacted by this event. Katrina sets the stage for Luke to find his Father. When Katrina hit New Orleans, Charles Millward was in the middle of the storm. After the storm hits Charles goes missing! Luke receives a phone call and sets out to look for his father. Luke sees the horrors of New Orleans. From bodies to the water filled streets and broken buildings and houses. Women and children living in the streets. He never imagined a scene like this.
This book is a perfect medium read. It is a realistic fiction book. There are 350 pages.
August 24, 2019
This book is a great depiction of what happened in the city of New Orleans during Katrina-- wrapped in a fictional story. Unfortunately, I didn't think the fictional story was too compelling. I was left with some questions...why did Charlie's friends lead Luke on a wild goose chase trying to find him when they already knew he was dead? How did they all coordinate the lie when Luke just showed up unexpectedly? Maybe I missed something. I listened to the audiobook and it did cut out for a few seconds right after Jazz gets to NYC, but by context, I only got that Luke thought Jazz had used his dad's money/credit card? to get there. No other explanation.
I also noticed that in the first part of the book, Luke goes back and forth from present-day to his childhood. That tied some things together. It would have been nice to see that continue through the book, giving more insight into his childhood and the actions he's taking now.
I was underwhelmed.
I also noticed that in the first part of the book, Luke goes back and forth from present-day to his childhood. That tied some things together. It would have been nice to see that continue through the book, giving more insight into his childhood and the actions he's taking now.
I was underwhelmed.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 22, 2020
The premise of the book sounded interesting - Luke, a young successful photographer in Manhattan, searching for his estranged father in New Orleans after Katrina. But it was nine chapters before the self centred protagonist finally deigned to drive to New Orleans to look for his missing father. I get that his father had been an alcoholic and a failure, and might have deserved Luke's distain, but come on - he was missing, presumed dead! Then the insipid Luke ditches his faithful, supportive, smart and caring girlfriend because he met someone exotic and gorgeous in New Orleans? Hmmm. I just couldn't warm to this character or care about him when he was doing such a great job of that all on his own. Meh.
September 11, 2017
This is a very fast read. It was very interesting about the devastation a hurricane can bring. This was about Luke Millward going to New Orleans to find his father after Hurricane Katrina hit. I was reading this the exact same time as Hurricane Irma 2017 has hit Florida, so I was very interested. I didn't realize all the destruction that takes place with a hurricane and the aftermath. I was a bit disappointed in the ending for some reason. I don't know why. I guess I was expecting a different ending.
January 27, 2019
The reason why i selected this book is the Author, because he is kinda familiar to me. And i predicted this book to be fiction, because the author for this book he is know by his fictional books. My overall reaction to the book was Lucke travell the world's most esolate and desperate places, but the images from the television were the first in his life that made him physically ill. what i liked about this book is the style of writing was pretty symbol and to understated.
July 9, 2020
I picked this up yesterday and finished it just a bit ago. Such a good, good, good book. This is not my first book from this author. I read a lot and the only book I read more than once (three times) is The Wednesday Letters. And I have told so many people about this book too. Jason just really writes reality. Feels so real. Could be real. Maybe it is real. Read this. You won't be disappointed. Jason you are wonderful.
September 7, 2017
Some parts I really liked and the characters felt a lot more real to me than the ones in the Wednesday Letters. The author obviously believes in the goodness of people, which is nice, but doesn't always make for the most realistic actions. Still, the main character felt fairly balanced and realistic with his reactions. It was definitely a story that pulled me along.
December 27, 2017
I have never been so glad to randomly receive a book. This was so touching to me with having a mom who suffered from alcoholism. I love the message of ‘love me if you can’ at the end. I know that she would hope we could look past her negative experiences and try to remember the good times. Love you Mom!❤️
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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