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The Replacement Son
Harry McChesney is seven when he first learns of Buddy, his only brother who’d died young and left his family in misery. After a fitful start on his own life, Harry decides that the only way to get things right for himself and his family is to become The Replacement Son.
Author W.S. Culpepper frames Harry’s psychological drama within an epic adventure story. Harry struggles to define himself, rescue his family from the emotional aftermath of his brother’s death, and undertake a lifetime of labors as the next head of the McChesney clan. The novel tracks reluctant pilgrim Harry on his existential quest through Depression-Era New Orleans, WWII, and the city’s devastation following Hurricane Katrina.
Along his journey, Harry gets help from a trusted family servant, a powerful talisman, and a bizarre set of twins. Throughout The Replacement Son, Buddy’s dark spirit lurks in the shadows. The brothers’ shared legacy seems only threatening and harmful. In the chaos of war Harry discovers a shocking secret that might offer a resolution and release for both brothers. But their conflict doesn’t end there, and Harry faces failure and defeat much later in life—trapped in the floods of Hurricane Katrina—when time is running out on everything.
The Replacement Son brings a charming but most unlikely hero and an exotic range of supporting characters to life in a compelling story of sacrifice and discovery.
Author W.S. Culpepper frames Harry’s psychological drama within an epic adventure story. Harry struggles to define himself, rescue his family from the emotional aftermath of his brother’s death, and undertake a lifetime of labors as the next head of the McChesney clan. The novel tracks reluctant pilgrim Harry on his existential quest through Depression-Era New Orleans, WWII, and the city’s devastation following Hurricane Katrina.
Along his journey, Harry gets help from a trusted family servant, a powerful talisman, and a bizarre set of twins. Throughout The Replacement Son, Buddy’s dark spirit lurks in the shadows. The brothers’ shared legacy seems only threatening and harmful. In the chaos of war Harry discovers a shocking secret that might offer a resolution and release for both brothers. But their conflict doesn’t end there, and Harry faces failure and defeat much later in life—trapped in the floods of Hurricane Katrina—when time is running out on everything.
The Replacement Son brings a charming but most unlikely hero and an exotic range of supporting characters to life in a compelling story of sacrifice and discovery.
418 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2013
3 people are currently reading
178 people want to read
About the author
W.S. Culpepper
1 book6 followersW. S. Culpepper is a retired physician living in Louisville, KY. Prior to Hurricane Katrina, he lived and worked in New Orleans, LA, the exotic, dysfunctional, much-battered, but beloved city where he was born and raised.
Dr. Culpepper has written poetry since his undergraduate years at the University of Virginia where he was an Echols Scholar in English literature. After practicing and teaching pediatric cardiology for over twenty-five years, he decided to focus on his writing and began exploring Japanese minimalist verse forms. His English haiku has appeared in the Tokyo Edition of the Mainichi Daily News, The International Newspaper of Japan, beginning in 2001. As a member of the Haiku Society of America, he produced a collection of less traditional Zen verse, entitled Haiku Lite: Poems for the New Millennium. His prose works (unpublished) include a travel memoir, France 2007: A Journal and a collection of essays on growing up in post-WW II New Orleans, Tales of Yute. The Replacement Son is his first novel.
Dr. Culpepper has written poetry since his undergraduate years at the University of Virginia where he was an Echols Scholar in English literature. After practicing and teaching pediatric cardiology for over twenty-five years, he decided to focus on his writing and began exploring Japanese minimalist verse forms. His English haiku has appeared in the Tokyo Edition of the Mainichi Daily News, The International Newspaper of Japan, beginning in 2001. As a member of the Haiku Society of America, he produced a collection of less traditional Zen verse, entitled Haiku Lite: Poems for the New Millennium. His prose works (unpublished) include a travel memoir, France 2007: A Journal and a collection of essays on growing up in post-WW II New Orleans, Tales of Yute. The Replacement Son is his first novel.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
April 8, 2013
Harry McChesney is seven when he learns of Buddy, his brother who died long before he was born, taking with him, the joy and happiness in his family, leaving his mother a shell of a woman, his sister, a lost and bitter sibling. If not for his father’s unending supply of support and love, and the love and protection of Bertha, the family servant, Harry may not have lived to become the man he was. Wild and headstrong in his youth, Harry is told of a family obligation passed from one generation to another by his wealthy uncle, who conveys the grave importance of this honor, also letting him know it was intended for his brother Buddy, not him. As if this wasn’t enough, there was also a secret key to a vast fortune to be used to help others, but it is up to Harry to find it and fulfill his destiny. Determined to live up to the McChesney obligations, Harry attempts to live under the shadow of being the replacement for Buddy. Now in his eighties, caught in the aftermath of Katrina’s devastation in New Orleans, he reflects on his life, his dreams, his role in World War II, his family life, how many times he should have died or been killed and was miraculously saved. In what could be his final hours, alone and abandoned in the aftermath of Katrina’s wrath, Harry finds a way to purge the demons of his past and fulfill his promises made long ago, thanks to a young girl, Robyn.
W. S. Culpepper has written a tale of a man who is finally released from his undeserved burdens with brutally vivid scenes of war, heroic actions, tender moments of love, joy and peace. All of his characters are wonderfully depicted and well-placed throughout. A beautifully written story that pulled at my heart!
This ARC edition was provided by NetGalley and Twin Harbors Press in exchange for my honest review. Publication date: June 4, 2013
W. S. Culpepper has written a tale of a man who is finally released from his undeserved burdens with brutally vivid scenes of war, heroic actions, tender moments of love, joy and peace. All of his characters are wonderfully depicted and well-placed throughout. A beautifully written story that pulled at my heart!
This ARC edition was provided by NetGalley and Twin Harbors Press in exchange for my honest review. Publication date: June 4, 2013
May 2, 2013
LOVED The Replacement Son by W. S. Culpepper! Beautifully developed characters and the story grabs you from the beginning. Having lived in New Orleans during Katrina, I was so captured by the tales of Harry's experiences during and after the storm. I find when I read or see anything about Katrina all these years later, I emotionally go back to that period of time when our lives were turned upside down. The way the author has so beautifully (and horridly) captured an event not uncommon during those days after the storm, I could feel Harry's pain. My stepfather was a veteran of WWII and I believe the author's stories of Harry's experiences in the war make you feel you are there with him. A great read!
April 3, 2013
This novel is a gem. From the early 20th century, to the WW II skies over Britain and Germany, to the bowels of Katrina - Culpepper captures the spirit of The Big Easy and beyond. His narratives are exquisite, and he continually captures the true fabric of the region for the reader to taste. The Son's characters are subject to issues concerning family honor, burden, and salvation. And Culpepper offers up an interesting opportunity of choice at book's end. A thoroughly enjoyable and thought provoking read.
October 14, 2022
My second reading of this wonderful novel. I was honored to know George McLean, the author's uncle and source for the WWII Bomb Group information. George served as a waist gunner on a B-24. Although he recently passed away, he was a long time friend and inspiration. We first met in 2003 in New Orleans-pre-Katrina and continued to meet periodically until his death. George told me this book wasn't about him! I still don't believe him. It was his war story and maybe more. W. S. Culpepper did a fabulous job in weaving a tale that rings with truth. I can't say enough good about his novel!
May 25, 2013
*Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book on Netgalley from the publisher in return for an honest review*
Author
W. S. Culpepper is a retired physician living in Austin, TX with his wife and daughter. Prior to Hurricane Katrina, he lived and worked in New Orleans, LA, the exotic, dysfunctional, much-battered, but beloved city where he was born and raised.
Dr. Culpepper has written poetry since his undergraduate years at the University of Virginia where he was an Echols Scholar in English literature. After practicing and teaching pediatric cardiology for over twenty-five years, he decided to focus on his writing.
Review
I am not sure what pulled me to read this book. Usually there is something like a cover or a really gripping synopsis /title or the buzz surrounding a book that makes you look out for it. I experienced the cover for this book as very blue, the synopsis sounded interesting enough but not in a way that I needed to get the book immediately and as it still had to be released the buzz was not the cause either. Still I felt a need to read this book and I am so glad I did it and now I am going to make an attempt to explain though I am going to say beforehand it was a feeling why I picked up the book and it was a lot feeling why I liked the book.
Harry the main character is born a few years after the dead of his older brother. He gets the signals early on that something is wrong but they take a long time to explain to him what that vibe means. The confusion this all gives is so clear in the story it frustrated me and I felt like jumping in the book and telling him more and answering his questions. After a short introduction about the early life and Harry being confronted with the story of Buddy we jump a few years to New Orleans while Katrina is coming closer. While being trapped in his house he starts to have flashbacks to his youth and what he all did to become the replacement son in the hope that his mother would stop grieving. Both stories are strong and well developed and I did not experience the feeling I can often have with flashbacks that I prefer the one over the other. There where only three things that really disturbed me in the reading process. One is the chapter of Bertha, I found it hard to read and to follow. Second is the group of pilots that are introduced with both real name and call name only ones and after they are used mixed but I was not always sure which one was which. Third I did no really like the few "magical" situations in the book but they can easily be ignored.
It was easy to connect with Harry in both periods and hope that everything turns out alright. Despite the often hard situations in the story I did not experience the book as a difficult read. The positive attitude Harry has towards most situations in his life make them accessible and it made the dark period he had a lot darker. After reading I tried to write why I liked this book so much and if I have to name something I think it is the hope that pours out of the pages.
Author
W. S. Culpepper is a retired physician living in Austin, TX with his wife and daughter. Prior to Hurricane Katrina, he lived and worked in New Orleans, LA, the exotic, dysfunctional, much-battered, but beloved city where he was born and raised.
Dr. Culpepper has written poetry since his undergraduate years at the University of Virginia where he was an Echols Scholar in English literature. After practicing and teaching pediatric cardiology for over twenty-five years, he decided to focus on his writing.
Review
I am not sure what pulled me to read this book. Usually there is something like a cover or a really gripping synopsis /title or the buzz surrounding a book that makes you look out for it. I experienced the cover for this book as very blue, the synopsis sounded interesting enough but not in a way that I needed to get the book immediately and as it still had to be released the buzz was not the cause either. Still I felt a need to read this book and I am so glad I did it and now I am going to make an attempt to explain though I am going to say beforehand it was a feeling why I picked up the book and it was a lot feeling why I liked the book.
Harry the main character is born a few years after the dead of his older brother. He gets the signals early on that something is wrong but they take a long time to explain to him what that vibe means. The confusion this all gives is so clear in the story it frustrated me and I felt like jumping in the book and telling him more and answering his questions. After a short introduction about the early life and Harry being confronted with the story of Buddy we jump a few years to New Orleans while Katrina is coming closer. While being trapped in his house he starts to have flashbacks to his youth and what he all did to become the replacement son in the hope that his mother would stop grieving. Both stories are strong and well developed and I did not experience the feeling I can often have with flashbacks that I prefer the one over the other. There where only three things that really disturbed me in the reading process. One is the chapter of Bertha, I found it hard to read and to follow. Second is the group of pilots that are introduced with both real name and call name only ones and after they are used mixed but I was not always sure which one was which. Third I did no really like the few "magical" situations in the book but they can easily be ignored.
It was easy to connect with Harry in both periods and hope that everything turns out alright. Despite the often hard situations in the story I did not experience the book as a difficult read. The positive attitude Harry has towards most situations in his life make them accessible and it made the dark period he had a lot darker. After reading I tried to write why I liked this book so much and if I have to name something I think it is the hope that pours out of the pages.
May 25, 2013
First I want to say thank you as I was lucky enough to receive this book through goodreads giveaways.
The replacement son is a great book from beginning to end. Harry who is the "replacement son" learns about his dead baby brother buddy when he is 7 years old. When Buddy dies it sends his family into shambles and they never really recover from it. This book follows Harry from world war II to Katrina and places in between. Pick up The Replacement son and take Harry's journey with him, this book will stay on your mind for a long time
The replacement son is a great book from beginning to end. Harry who is the "replacement son" learns about his dead baby brother buddy when he is 7 years old. When Buddy dies it sends his family into shambles and they never really recover from it. This book follows Harry from world war II to Katrina and places in between. Pick up The Replacement son and take Harry's journey with him, this book will stay on your mind for a long time
November 12, 2013
There is something for everyone in this first novel. Hope this is the first of many
April 30, 2013
In his first novel, The Replacement Son, W.S. Culpepper spins a masterfully wrought tale of family heritage and individual struggle for identity, spanning more than century of New Orleans history from the late 19th century cotton and coffee trades to the early 21st century devastation of hurricane Katrina. In between, the story unfolds through its hero’s traumatic, triumphant, and spiritually complex experiences of World War II as a member of an Army Air Corps bomber crew.
Harry McChesney is the “replacement son” -- born to an industrious, deeply principled family of ancient Scottish descent -- who at the age of seven first learns of his predecessor sibling Buddy’s death as an infant “blue baby”. Buddy’s brief years of hopeless suffering have shattered his mother’s psyche and left Harry’s older sister remote and embittered, conditions now appearing to him in new light. Loved and supported by his devoted father, and protected relentlessly by Bertha, the loyal servant and central pillar for the wounded family, Harry must rise to the challenge of becoming the man who can make his family whole again – and more than that, who can redeem a sacred family obligation, which falls to the first McChesney Son in each generation. Harry struggles through a wild youth, failing miserably at mending the family, but on reaching his early maturity and preparing to go to war, his wealthy Uncle (the first McChesney Son of the previous generation) reveals to him the family quest that was intended for Buddy, but has now become his to fulfill. There is a grave obligation for helping others, and a vast fortune to be put to the task, but only if a secret key can be found to unlock the treasure.
Determined to fulfill this destiny, Harry struggles to meet the immediate challenges of war and survival, while attempting live under his assumed identity and discover the answers to advance his quest. Now in his early eighties, Harry has survived the war and accomplished much, but has yet to find the key to unlock his McChesney destiny. Caught in the frenzy to escape New Orleans before Katrina hits, Harry finds himself injured and trapped in his Old Metairie home amid rising waters, dwindling supplies, and a dangerous fever. He recalls his many brushes with death, marveling at the potency of the voodoo talisman Bertha had devised for him before the war, and discovers through it and a chance encounter with a young woman, the pathway connecting his personal history to the realization of his lifelong quest.
The Replacement Son is told through an abundance of compelling characters, moving in and out of the spotlight, as the narrative alternates across three distinct timeframes – the pre-war days in New Orleans, the war, and Katrina. Across these “tent poles,” the fabric of the novel is suspended, and woven carefully together by period-specific dialogue and prose that rings true to each context. Indeed, the writing style itself varies subtly with each shift in time perspective, reinforcing the authenticity of the voices and events from each era, and establishing a pulse in the narration that quickens or slows according to the terrain. There is a deftness of touch by the author in managing the interplay of the spiritual and worldly dimensions of this tale that sets it apart from what might have been just a lively potboiler of a read. The abiding yet understated themes of altruism, spiritual power, the nature of the soul, human goodness and renewal filter quietly through the characters in their hard-edged struggles, their terror, and the fog of war.
W.S. Culpepper has written the beautiful tale of a family burden, a replacement son, and a realized destiny that reaches across generations, revealing nuances of the human condition -- in war, peace, love, and in the final release from their combined entanglements. The impact of the writing is sustained by consistently vivid and stirring depictions of the distinct, intricately detailed worlds the story occupies: from authentic New Orleans characters and manners of the 1920’s; to Bertha’s personal descent into an unholy backwoods voodoo culture to secure Harry’s protective amulet; to relentless brutality and horror at the East Anglia bomber base from which Harry’s crew conducts daily bombing runs over Germany; to his discovery of unexpected love and spiritual insight in the ruble of London during the blitz; to the exposure of human frailty, finally tinged with renewal, in Katrina’s devastation. Culpepper writes with the authority of an eyewitness, and his Acknowledgements note the reliance on in-depth personal interviews in coming by the wealth of his material. But the magic of the told tale is all in his telling, and we hope to see more from this precocious new talent!
Harry McChesney is the “replacement son” -- born to an industrious, deeply principled family of ancient Scottish descent -- who at the age of seven first learns of his predecessor sibling Buddy’s death as an infant “blue baby”. Buddy’s brief years of hopeless suffering have shattered his mother’s psyche and left Harry’s older sister remote and embittered, conditions now appearing to him in new light. Loved and supported by his devoted father, and protected relentlessly by Bertha, the loyal servant and central pillar for the wounded family, Harry must rise to the challenge of becoming the man who can make his family whole again – and more than that, who can redeem a sacred family obligation, which falls to the first McChesney Son in each generation. Harry struggles through a wild youth, failing miserably at mending the family, but on reaching his early maturity and preparing to go to war, his wealthy Uncle (the first McChesney Son of the previous generation) reveals to him the family quest that was intended for Buddy, but has now become his to fulfill. There is a grave obligation for helping others, and a vast fortune to be put to the task, but only if a secret key can be found to unlock the treasure.
Determined to fulfill this destiny, Harry struggles to meet the immediate challenges of war and survival, while attempting live under his assumed identity and discover the answers to advance his quest. Now in his early eighties, Harry has survived the war and accomplished much, but has yet to find the key to unlock his McChesney destiny. Caught in the frenzy to escape New Orleans before Katrina hits, Harry finds himself injured and trapped in his Old Metairie home amid rising waters, dwindling supplies, and a dangerous fever. He recalls his many brushes with death, marveling at the potency of the voodoo talisman Bertha had devised for him before the war, and discovers through it and a chance encounter with a young woman, the pathway connecting his personal history to the realization of his lifelong quest.
The Replacement Son is told through an abundance of compelling characters, moving in and out of the spotlight, as the narrative alternates across three distinct timeframes – the pre-war days in New Orleans, the war, and Katrina. Across these “tent poles,” the fabric of the novel is suspended, and woven carefully together by period-specific dialogue and prose that rings true to each context. Indeed, the writing style itself varies subtly with each shift in time perspective, reinforcing the authenticity of the voices and events from each era, and establishing a pulse in the narration that quickens or slows according to the terrain. There is a deftness of touch by the author in managing the interplay of the spiritual and worldly dimensions of this tale that sets it apart from what might have been just a lively potboiler of a read. The abiding yet understated themes of altruism, spiritual power, the nature of the soul, human goodness and renewal filter quietly through the characters in their hard-edged struggles, their terror, and the fog of war.
W.S. Culpepper has written the beautiful tale of a family burden, a replacement son, and a realized destiny that reaches across generations, revealing nuances of the human condition -- in war, peace, love, and in the final release from their combined entanglements. The impact of the writing is sustained by consistently vivid and stirring depictions of the distinct, intricately detailed worlds the story occupies: from authentic New Orleans characters and manners of the 1920’s; to Bertha’s personal descent into an unholy backwoods voodoo culture to secure Harry’s protective amulet; to relentless brutality and horror at the East Anglia bomber base from which Harry’s crew conducts daily bombing runs over Germany; to his discovery of unexpected love and spiritual insight in the ruble of London during the blitz; to the exposure of human frailty, finally tinged with renewal, in Katrina’s devastation. Culpepper writes with the authority of an eyewitness, and his Acknowledgements note the reliance on in-depth personal interviews in coming by the wealth of his material. But the magic of the told tale is all in his telling, and we hope to see more from this precocious new talent!
June 13, 2013
The chasm of unanswered questions and misunderstanding yawns wide and deep between Harry and his deceased brother, Buddy. Having never known Buddy, Harry constantly feels his brother’s presence surround him and dictate Harry’s relationships with his family. Deftly written by W. S. Culpepper, the ever-silent and omnipresent struggle between the two brothers spans decades and touches every aspect of Harry’s life. Coursing from New Orleans to war-torn England in World War II, Culpepper unfolds a multi-faceted story filled with the conflicts encountered in life and the discoveries made along the way.
November 4, 2013
I bought this book at the Austin book festival.. The author was selling it himself and giving away hot sauce and you could win a dinner in New Orleans.. I thought it was a good read.. The WWII part was not as compelling as the Katrina part.
June 7, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews