Sunflower

by Cass J. McMain

A bad day, a wrong choice and the a tale of self-discovery. Michael is a metalworker with a name for building good fences. He's even known by some neighborhood kids as Mr. Fence Man. But he wants to be something an artist like his former business partner, Alex. An artist, like his girlfriend, Jess, wants him to be. The commissions are starting to come in, and along with steady work making fences, things are looking good. The only problem he has is with his closest neighbor, who won't allow visitors to pass through a gate between their properties. This dispute becomes a fight and Michael, enraged, makes a wrong choice. Haunted by the result of his choice, Michael starts to fall a death weighs down on him, exposing the weaknesses in the persona he was creating for himself, the weaknesses at the heart of him. Sunflower is a story about a man having a bad day and making one bad choice. But underneath that, it also about his coming to terms with who he is – and who he is not. Ultimately, Sunflower is about how we define ourselves as people, and how we seek to be what we are not.

Genres: Fiction

452 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 10, 2013

Reviews

[Katie O'Rourke · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's hard for me to believe this is Cass McMain's first book. It's beautiful in it's simplicity. If you're looking for a fast-paced thriller, this isn't the book for you. If you're looking for meaty characters with regular problems, a quiet drama that will stick with you long after you put the book down, look no further.

In Sunflower, McMain has created characters who feel like real people; Michael and Jess could live next door. The story is made more vivid by the details of the area in New Mexico where they live. The dialogue is so realistic that you don't mind when it seems like what they're discussing is inconsequential. It's enjoyable just to be a fly on the wall. Of course, the brilliance of this book is that there are no inconsequential conversations. Even the most seemingly simple misunderstanding can lead to catastrophe and what isn't said - the hurt feelings, guilt, pride - weighs just as heavily.

In one scene, McMain writes: "If Jess had gone to him then, and put her arms around him, he'd have collapsed into her and told her everything. . . And then maybe everything would have turned out differently." But she doesn't, and the reader watches helplessly as this couple continues to fail each other, no matter how good their intentions.

In a matter of weeks, their contented life unravels in a series of almost mundane problems: a stressful work schedule, the pressure of someone else's expectations, a missed phone call, an argument with a delivery driver, the heart attack of an unfriendly neighbor, the decision to take in a stray cat. Things skid further and further off track and when they're righted, everything has changed.

Sunflower is a book about identity and shows that sometimes it is only when life gets hard that we find out who we are.

[Bonnye Reed · Rating 4 out of 5]

GNAB Cass McMain writes a tight, compelling story, and Sunflower boils down to a study in faith and loyalty. Throw in a smattering of support and just a touch of empathy. I found this ending very satisfactory - although it felt like I should like Jess, I never considered her a true partner for Michael. McMain goes on my list of must read authors.

I received a free electronic copy of this novel from Netgalley. Cass J. McMain, and Holland House Books in exchange for an honest review. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me.

pub date June 10 2013
Holland House Books

[Janie · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Sunflower" by Cass McMain has real to life characters and settings that could take place in normal day America. It's a suspense/thriller type book and is you enjoy reading that genre you're going to love this book. One word of caution is to read this book slowly and not try to rush through it. There are quite a few things I missed and went back to figure out what was happening. Once I did it was a really good story.

[Holland House House · Rating 5 out of 5]

Editor’s Review:
I was pointed in the direction of ‘Sunflower’ by a friend who had seen it on a writing forum. Within a couple of pages I was sure that this was worth reading, and approached Cass through the mutual friend. She duly sent me the manuscript, apparently a little surprised at my interest.
I realised then how long it was – 140,000 words, a real epic. Too long, according to conventional wisdom – surely too long unless it contained suitably epic events and huge cast of characters.
One Saturday late morning I opened the Word document and, seated at my desk, began reading. I read straight through, stopping only for coffee. 140,000 words in one day. Very little happens in the book, to be truthful, and what there is doesn’t happen quickly. Characters? Well, there are maybe three or four who are central, and perhaps a dozen (including a waitress and a salesman who appear for a few lines) in all. The style is simple, and there are no great phrases, no extended analyses, no bravura passages. I felt as though I had read a brief, simple book, and as though I had been immersed in another life.
Above all I knew this should be published.
It is hard, though, to describe or characterise. If it was a painting it would undoubtedly be in the impressionist style – or some midway point between pointillism and the obsessive twisting strokes of Van Gogh. There is a rhythm and a repetition, an extraordinary care with each word, each sentence, each punctuation mark, but it is true art, for one is never aware of the effort nor of the innate skill.
The reader is taken into the lives of the characters, the life, above all, of Michael. Like most lives his is composed of small moments, small worries, and small ambitions; as with most lives there is a fragility to his. The fragility is in part due to a fault line in him – the kind of fault line we all have. One particular small moment has a butterfly effect on the whole; the structure begins to crumble, quietly, almost unnoticed, and a life of quiet desperation emerges.
Throughout there are those moments that strike home and for me there was one particular moment: a telephone call, innocuous and unimportant, that made me stop reading for a little while, so personal was the recognition. There is throughout a kind of gentle descent – and the most gentle dissection of a person one can imagine. Yet in the end this about strength and hope, about life-giving light as well as life-denying darkness.
It is indeed a story of small things and profound truths.

Robert Peett

[Jesamine James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Considering the simple setting and the unremarkable characters this story is incredibly powerful and beautiful at the same time.
We all know a Michael or have been in his shoes ourselves.
The story takes Michael to his lowest point and for no one major reason, but those little things that build up beneath the surface. Loss, stress, guilt and rejection take Michael to the place where he needs his mind to be strong. Inevitably it turns against him and his spirit spirals downhill with him being hardly aware of the man he has become.
The strength of this story is the author's insight into the characters' minds. Everything about it is real and truly believable.
I've read similar stories and wanted to shake the characters, but this story had me loving them, rooting for them and understanding exactly what they were all going through. None of them are to blame. Human nature to hold things in, the domino effect of relationships, and self-doubt and low self-esteem bring all the characters together and pull them apart.
Michael needs someone who understands him and he'll be released. I won't spoil it.
This is one of the most beautiful, touching stories I've read. How the author has managed to write it this way and grip the reader at the same time is a credit to her talent.

[Angelika Rust · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think of this book as written in two parts, with the first part setting the scene for what happens in the second. I have to admit, I had a hard time getting through that first part. If I hadn't been on a plane with nothing else to read, I might have abandoned the book. I'm glad I didn't, because the second part really makes up for the first. Thing is, it only serves to introduce us to Michael, the main character - his life, his job, his cow of a girlfriend - and it does that in a rather repetitive fashion. And it takes up exactly 50% of the book. His life is not exciting, and it's boring to get told every snippet at least thrice.
That totally changes at 50%. The one thing it all has been building up to finally happens - and even if the thing itself is predictable, the outcome, and the changes it wreaks with and within Michael, are not. Here now, the author shows a great deal of understanding of the human soul, what kills us, what keeps us alive, and what makes us human. The second part is a page turner, powerful and compelling.

[Glenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

What can I say ... it's a simple story, but huge in it's message. It was not a book with tons of action that kept me turning pages; it was the writing of an open book of our feelings, failures, self destruction and renewal of life that kept me glued to it. I read it at lunch time, quiet moments at work and every night. A story that could come from anyone's life; insightful and lovely. I shall remember this story for a very long time. Thanks Cass McMain.

[M.J. Fahy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sunflower is different, poignant, and beautiful. I liked its wending, meandering pace, and its depth, and enjoyed reading about characters with such believable flaws and quirks (especially the shelving of official-looking envelopes: Guilty!). The story revolves around main character Michael, his iron-fabricating business, and his relationships; highlighting how split-second reactions to seemingly trivial misunderstandings can lead to devastating and far-reaching consequences.

[Wolf DeVoon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This first novel is everything one could hope for in fine literature. McMain's voice is so supple it disappears, so that we are in the scene, in the room, in the restaurant, in the workshop with Michael, aghast at his vulnerability and pain, praying for his release. I sincerely envy Cass McMain's vision and style of storytelling. Highly recommended.

[Rose Burcher · Rating 1 out of 5]

A simple story, simple characters and simple plot. Too much time devoted to unnecessary detail such as descriptions of the roadside, his artwork (over and over again) and not much character development. This book was about 200 pages too long.

[Cristie Underwood]

I was surprised to learn that this is the author's first book, as it is so incredibly well-written. I loved the fact that the characters were normal, everyday people living ordinary lives. The plot was simple, but the writing was phenomenal. The author's ability to make the characters so relatable kept me invested. This book proves that an author doesn't need over the top plot points to keep their reader invested. I highly recommend this book!