Daykeeper

by Ran Walker

Ed Nelson is struggling to recover from the devastating loss of his wife to cancer. As Ed’s depression begins to deepen, his older brother steps in to help him make the critical changes necessary to bring him back from the brink. Into this new environment walks Tanya, a woman half his age, who immediately reminds him of his late wife. Ed and Tanya develop an unlikely friendship, but as things quickly evolve into something more intimate, he must now confront what it means to be a widower making sense of a life full of new and unexpected complications.

Genres: Fiction

164 pages, Paperback

Published April 24, 2018

About the author

Ran Walker is the author of four novels (The Keys of My Soul, B-Sides and Remixes, 30 Love, and Mojo's Guitar), two novellas (Beat Bop and Afro Nerd in Love), and two short story collections (Secrets & Cures and 16 Bars). His short stories and poetry have appeared in a variety of anthologies.

Ran is the recipient of both a 2005 Mississippi Arts Commission/NEA artist grant and a 2006 artist mini-grant, and he has also served as an Artist-in-Residence with the Commission. In addition, he is a past participant in the Hurston-Wright Writers Week Workshop and is the recipient of a fellowship from the Callaloo Writers Workshop.

In addition to writing, Ran is a songwriter and music publisher with ASCAP and 1/2 of the electronic soul production team Groovault. Groovault released The Liquid Dream EP in 2011 and continues to work with a variety of up-and-coming artists. When Ran is not writing books or composing music, he is working on his iPhoneography and storytelling skills.

Ran is an Assistant Professor of English and Creative Writing at Hampton University and lives in Virginia with his wife and much better half, Lauren, and his amazing little rockstar daughter, Zoë.

Reviews

[Scott Semegran · Rating 5 out of 5]

Daykeeper is novel about a widower who struggles with the loss of his wife to cancer and his relationship with a student at the university where he works. It’s a contemplative story about life after the death of his loving spouse, particularly with the ensuing guilt of betraying their previous life and home together, which takes an unexpected turn when he becomes entwined with the inevitable lust for life with a woman half his age. This novel was the winner of the 2019 Indie Author of the Year Award (Indie Author Project).

The story is told as a brisque yet lyrical first-person narrative with Kwansaba poetry sprinkled throughout. I was deeply affected by the contemplation of living a life after a very loving spouse dies too soon from cancer, and Ed’s struggle to continue without the love and support of his wife. The Kwansaba poetry does most of the heavy lifting to communicate the mournful distress Ed feels, then later in the novel turns passionate and yearnful for his new girlfriend. And the funny interactions between Ed and his older brother helped to lighten the mood whenever the story veered toward more maudlin territory.

My only criticism would be that there was an opportunity to explore Ed’s grief in more detail, offering a fuller picture of why he was wracked with so much guilt for finding a new girlfriend. There were brief passages about his wife’s budding career as a singer and pleasant car rides they took together while enjoying each others’ company. But when Ed senses a familiarity with Tanya as pertaining to his deceased wife, there wasn’t much offered in the way to prove that besides the two women coincidentally liking the same novel and both women exuding a certain amount of confidence. That’s where the Kwansaba poetry contributed much-needed emotional resonance to the story, adding the depth and feeling that Ed wasn’t otherwise explaining in his narration.

An insightful exploration into grief and passion for life renewed. I would give this novel four and a half stars.

[Abbey Thurn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is okay if you need a quick easy read and have nothing else available. That’s how I discovered it.

[Barbara Stone · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book annoyed the crap out of me. Ed is a 40 yo college professor who is lonely after loosing his wife to cancer. He meets Tanya, a student at his school, who is breaking up with her current boyfriend who has cheated on her. He talks to her and meets her a few times and he then he is having unprotected sex with her. They continue to have unprotected sex and are surprised when she gets pregnant… so unexpected! No word of any STD’s they might have.
Ed is an ass. He needs his brother’s approval about everything, discribes sex with Tanya in detail and is very concerned about loosing his tenure next year, but continues his affair.

[Allison Rae · Rating 1 out of 5]

Blah blah blah....same old widow story.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Beautiful writing, but found the characters very unlikable. I guess not my cup of tea thematically.

[Samantha Baxter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing writing and easy to follow novel. I do hope to find out more about the characters in the next book. (Here’s wishing)

[Carla · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nothing really happened.

[Natalie T · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a sweet novella audio book. There were some tragic events but a happy ending for Ed. This story could have easily been longer but was still good.

[Jackson · Rating 2 out of 5]

people probably should not take this sort of thing to heart if they do not want to end up in really big trouble!