A telling story of youthful discord and aging regret. When a boy learns what it actually means to be a man.
From the beginning, Daniel Mendoza struggled with who he is and where he was going in life. Fatherless, Daniel learns from a myriad of male friends and neighbors who come into his life from childhood to adulthood about what it actually means to be a man. His journey is incomplete as he dreams and yearns for his own father to teach him. "When Dreams Abound: A Return to Chambers Lane" is the telling sequel of youthful discord and aging regret over a span of decades from the perspective of one particular member of the Mendoza family
Excerpt
It was clear that the small house near the end of Chambers Lane sat on a lazy acre of land filled with various fruit trees. There was the large apricot tree that shaded the entire western face of the house. There was also the scrawny nectarine tree with only a few branches that barely produced two or three nectarines a year, but whose meager fruit was still juicy and delicious. Only one member of the Mendoza family was lucky enough to pick and eat the nectarines before the rest of the family had the opportunity to. Most of the time that was Jose Luis, the older brother, who would greedily eat the nectarines without any regard for anyone else. He was like that in every other way, especially when it came to food. Even his mother would claim that Jose Luis had a tapeworm or two because of the way he gorged food every day. Jose Luis would sneak into the refrigerator every night when everyone was asleep and eat the leftovers or eat the ingredients of the next day's meal. But this spring was different. Jose Luis did not eat the nectarines as he had eagerly anticipated. His younger brother, Daniel, had. Or at least that is what Jose Luis believed because Daniel had sat underneath the apricot tree every day dreamily contemplating something as he gazed towards the garden beyond. Between the garden and the apricot tree lay the nectarine tree and in Jose Luis' young, simple mind that was enough to indict Daniel. Little did Jose Luis know the real reason for Daniel's malaise that entire Spring. But it would not matter because Jose Luis could care less. Only the nectarines mattered to him and they were no more.
Professional Reviews
A compelling read
As I age, I find myself drawn to the type of story that Daniel Maldonado is trying to tell here, rather than the typical martial arts/political-industrial espionage stories and novels of my earlier years. This novel is an exploration of what really matters in life: family, work, struggle, the bittersweet feeling of love, neglect, abandonment, loss, with the odd success, hard won, mixed in. It is said that all political careers end in failure, but I believe all lives end in failure eventually. To my mind, this novel explores these issues.
“When Dreams Abound” opens in the spring of 1977 and charts the life of the Mendoza family. In particular, the life of the younger son, Daniel, as he goes from boy (He is turning twelve as the story begins), to man, without a father. His mother is capable but indifferent and cares little for the struggles of her obviously intelligent son, even though that son accomplishes a lot of what he does to try and win her approval.
In many ways, this is a sad story. His older brother, Jose Luis, is dim-witted, greedy and uncaring. He has one older sister, Maria, who avoids him because of ‘his strange and often awkward demeanour’ he believes, and his younger sister, Sylvia was ‘oblivious to Daniel’s absences’. Daniel sees himself as ‘a stranger in a strange family’.
Daniel daydreams about sitting around the table with his father and the rest of his family. The sad reality is that they all eat in their own bedrooms.
Daniel must use his intelligence to cope when the guiding hand of a caring father is absent. He does this extremely well. He meets various characters along the way, including one, the mechanical engineer Perry, who gets ripped off making medical devices and yet Perry himself is a womaniser, frustrated by his drunken wife’s lack of sexual desire.
Despite all this, Daniel excels in schools. He graduates head of his class of ’83 and goes on to get a degree in aerospace engineering. However, finding this more constricting than he had imagined, he succeeds in getting work with a leading law firm.
He marries. But Daniel never really escapes his past. It follows him throughout life and at one point he even hires an investigator to try and find his father.
This is a story full of pathos, a description of a life that could be mine or yours. If I had a fault with the work, I would say Daniel Maldonado did not delve deep enough into the pathos of an unfulfilled life. He is by profession an attorney who specialises in insurance law and perhaps some of this distance and innate caution is to be seen in his writing. But he is on the right track with the subject matter and should pursue this line, he’s good at it. A compelling read.
Sarah Thompson has ten days on Maui to find her lifetime after lifetime soulmate. She is certain he is waiting for her there on one of the last remaining land masses of Mu still above water.
Sarah Thompson has ten days on Maui to find her lifetime after lifetime soulmate. She is certain he is waiting for her there on one of the last remaining land masses of Mu still above water.
As deafness, illness, and demonic forces close in around him, Ludwig van Beethoven must summon his faith and genius to complete the Missa Solemnis—a sacred masterpiece he believes could bring divine light into a darkening world.
