Flaherty's Crossing is a compelling and imaginative story, not just about death but about life and emotional growth, a broken woman's journey towards learning to trust again.
Successful yet emotionally stifled artist Kate Flaherty stands at the deathbed of her estranged father, conflicted by his morphine-induced confession exposing his part in her mother's death. While racing home, Kate's car mishap leads her to a soul-searching discussion with a lone diner employee, prompting Kate to confront the true reasons her marriage hangs in the balance. When her night takes an unexpected turn, however, she flees for her life, a life desperate for faith that can only be found through her ability to forgive.
Excerpt
CHAPTER ONE: The Journey Begins...
The last grain of sand was about to drop in her father's invisible hourglass and there was nothing Kate Flaherty could do to stop it. The realization launched a shudder up her spine. She'd known this day was inevitable. Yet it still came as a shock when she'd learned only hours ago that his final days had arrived. She should have come back sooner.
No--it was his fault, not hers. She'd had every right to stay away after discovering the truth. So why did she feel remorse encroaching on her anger, his gurgling breaths draining strength from her limbs?
In his curtain-drawn bedroom, she perched on the edge of the mattress, a few inches away from what had become a mere sketch of a man. The lamp's amber glow cast shadows across his features, accentuating how much he'd deteriorated in just under a month.
Surgery, chemo, radiation therapy. For two years, she'd watched his heavyset frame shrink with every trip to the hospital, his sixty-three year old body blast through a time warp. But never ravaged to this extent. She barely recognized the sheeted man beside her. Mussed strands of thin, ghost-white hair, matching jagged mustache, and stubbly chin were all that remained of the father she knew. He was more of a stranger than ever before.
Slowly, he lifted his eyelids and turned his face. When their gazes met, a spark of recognition flickered. "You're here," he rasped as he reached for her hand.
She accepted reluctantly. His palm was cold and clammy, his skin sallow and tissue-thin. She swallowed hard, wanting to pull away, but the child in her resisted, the part of her that had never stopped longing for his affection.
"Where've you been?" He inhaled a labored breath. "I was waiting for ya."
"I..." A lump of guilt formed in her throat, blocking any answer.
"Is the baby ready?"
She stared at him, shocked. His words made no sense. "What, Dad?"
"We gotta go. Don't wanna hit traffic, Iris."
Kate's heart plummeted before she could remind herself of what he'd done. She slipped her hand away and clenched her fists, her nails biting into her palms. She tried to reignite the rage she was entitled to, but he appeared so defenseless, she summoned only the foreboding of imminent loss. She leaned toward him. His gaze fixed on the ceiling. All she had to do was say good-bye, just as she'd done countless times throughout her youth. It would be a relief--for both of them. "Dad, it's me, Katie."
"Mmm. Smells so good."
She sniffed automatically, half-expecting the aroma of her father's favorite rosemary-garlic potatoes roasting in the kitchen down the hall. Instead, she inhaled only the nauseating odor of disinfectant, bodily fluids and medication. Her stomach reeled. "Dad, can you hear me?"
"How long till supper, darlin'?" The question caught her off guard.
"Are you hungry?"
"He can't eat anymore, dear," a woman reported from behind her. Kate turned toward the doorway where Doris Shaffer stood. The portly hospice nurse, her knotted hair as white as her smock, looked on with kind eyes. When Doris's comment sunk in, a wave of horror rolled over Kate.
"What about his protein drinks?"
"He isn't able to keep any food down, I'm afraid."
As though cancer wasn't bad enough. Now he was starving.
"You're welcome to give him some ice chips. I'm sure he'd like that." Doris pointed at the nightstand next to Kate. There, on the corner of the table, his thick-rimmed glasses rested beside the remote control for the small television he'd watched during her last series of visits--visits in which The Price is Right appeared more interesting than any conversation she had to offer. But then, after all these years, why had she expected anything different?
In the center of an aged doily sat a metal soup bowl dotted with condensation and filled with a mound of ice slivers. She glanced at the raw corners of her father's mouth. Compassion guided her hand to retrieve the spoon poking out from the bowl.
"Lamb, corn, potatoes..." As he rambled off the menu, Kate pictured her apron-clad mother peeking into the window of the heated oven. But just as her mom had vanished from their lives, so did the image. "Think I'll need a bigger belt," he said and chuckled, a sound Kate hadn't heard in years.
She placed a spoonful of melting ice on his tongue, and without taking her gaze off his face, she asked Doris in an even tone, "Isn't there anything else you can do for him?"
"At this stage, we're just trying to keep him comfortable."
At this stage. Such finality in those words. Kate fought the tremble in her hand as she transported a second scoop toward his mouth, but a good portion landed on the crumpled sheet. Immediately, she set down the spoon and brushed the ice off the bed in frantic sweeps. She had to get this over with. "Dad, can you hear me?"
"The showerhead needs changing." He'd begun to slur.
"Dad?"
"Closet door needs oiling..." He trailed off in a gurgle.
"It's the morphine," Doris explained. "Sends him off on tangents that don't make a whole lot of sense."
Not always the case. Sometimes those tangents made all too much sense.
Professional Reviews
Chicago Sun-Times
Flaherty’s Crossing begins as Kate Flaherty is rushing to her estranged father’s deathbed. She makes it there before he passes, but he appears to be incoherently drifting in and out of the past. Kate carries a tremendous amount of anger towards her father. After her mother tragically died at age thirty-six, she blamed him for her death. Holding a grudge against him and his inability to express his feelings towards her, Kate saw her father as an enigma.
At the same time that Kate is losing her father, she is about to lose her husband. This loss would not be to death. Just as Kate’s father withheld himself from her, Kate has been withholding herself from her husband, Drew. Their marriage is on the rocks and neither knows how to reach out to the other. A car accident changes everything. When Kate runs her car off a road to avoid hitting a deer, a strange encounter with a mysterious man in an old diner begins to wake her up from her apathetic state. Realizing that he could have lost her forever, also forces Drew to know that he does not want this to happen.
Together they decide to try to salvage their marriage. They start looking at what is truly important to each other. Drew begins to see that being trapped in an unrewarding job so that he can afford their big expensive house and fancy BMW is not worth it. The couple also has other serious issues to contend with. As Kate deals with her father’s passing, she begins to learn more about his life. She discovers that the family secrets ran very deep. Finding mementos that he had saved of her, shows her how much her father really loved her. She begins to see that she has been making the same mistakes in her marriage that her father did in his. She knows that she needs to make changes so that she does not end up like her parents did.
Flaherty’s Crossing by Kaylin McFarren is a beautiful story. The author does an incredible job of presenting the story in vivid detail. We are taken into the minds and hearts of the characters. As you read, you will feel the same anguish that they each felt in dealing with their own issues. In your heart, you will also feel their love and their hope for a better future. Even though it is a fictional story, it made me reflect on my own life, and how I shouldn’t wait until it is too late to let people that I love know how I feel, or to apologize if I need to. This is a novel that is written with exceptional quality. Readers will truly enjoy this story.
Midwest Book Review
One crushing truth often leads one to more. Flaherty's Crossing is the story of Kate Flaherty as she tries to come to terms the truths that surround her life that she has often ignored. With her father revealing facts about her mother, a car accident sending her into soul searching, Kate's first response is to run away from it all, only to find running never changes anything. Flaherty's Crossing is a powerful and inspiring read, highly recommended.
Sacramento Book Review/San Francisco Book Review
Flaherty's Crossing goes beyond Kate's coming to terms with her father and her memories of him, and the obvious couple with relationship problems finding that they still love each other after all. McFarren not only realistically presents Kate's emotional roller-coaster, but also gets into Kate's husband's head, presenting male emotions within a troubled relationship. A well-written book, dealing with difficult issues of love, loss, healing, and faith, and never slipping into maudlin territory. A great debut novel.
Reflections and Nature Watercolors is a collection of Margaret's spontaneous positive thoughts in celebrating and reflecting on life and her nature watercolors.
