CHILD OF A SWAN
David Burnett
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GENRE: Women's Fiction
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BLURB:
Rejecting
her father’s master plan for her life, sixteen-year old Alyssia Barrett faces
the world alone.
"Lyssa,
it is your destiny."
Her
father did not use those exact words, but he might as well have.
Lyssa
Barrett was born into a family of writers.
Few
authors have landed more titles on national bestseller lists than has her
father. Her oldest brother walks in his father’s footsteps, her second brother
is a published poet, and the third a Broadway playwright. The four men, the
“Barrett Band,” as they are called, are a force in American literary circles,
the “first family of American letters.”
And
Lyssa is meant to join them.
Lyssa,
the child who would rather decipher a math puzzle than unravel an anagram,
prove a geometric theorem than pen a short story, and master nonparametric
statistics than devise plot twists for a novel. Lyssa is destined to be a
writer.
So
her father believes, and since no one crosses her father, it is what all who
know the family expect. Of all her father’s children, only Lyssa is willing to
rebel. It is a trait which sets her apart from the others to such a degree that
she questions whether she is even truly a Barrett.
Conflict
is inevitable.
In
middle school, Lyssa is selected to participate in an honors math program. Her
father enrolls her in a summer writing seminar. She insists on taking math at a
local college. He is adamant that she enroll in advanced composition. She
presents a paper at a national mathematics convention. Her father hails the
publication of a short story she has written.
Writing
is her calling, her father insists, and, looking beyond high school, he chooses
the college she will attend, he identifies the subject in which she will major,
and he selects the very courses he will allow her to take.
Although
not yet seventeen years old, she realizes that unless she puts distance between
herself and her father, she will not escape what he calls “her destiny” and she
calls the “Barrett curse.” Closing the door to childhood behind her, she steps
into the world, intent on becoming an adult on her own terms.
If
you enjoy coming of age stories, you will fall in love with this absorbing
account of how Lyssa strives to come to terms with her past as she builds life
on her own terms.
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Excerpt
Three:
As I entered Mr. Roberts’ office, my eyes were drawn to the
scowl on my father’s face, and I supposed Mr. Roberts had not simply “rolled
over,” agreeing to alter my schedule without discussion or argument.
Mr. Roberts greeted me with a big smile. “Allyssia, good
morning.”
“Good morning, Mr. Roberts.”
“Please sit down.” Mr. Roberts pointed to the vacant seat.
“We seem to have a misunderstanding about your course
selection, Allyssia. Your mother enrolled you in Algebra, but I understand you
would prefer to be taking Classics.”
He paused as if he expected me to confirm the
misunderstanding, but there had been none. Classics was not my preference.
Still, I hesitated to contradict my father, so I said nothing.
“Is that correct?”
I glanced at my father’s angry expression.
“Allyssia?”
I took a deep breath.
“Mom and I agreed I would take Algebra…It was my choice.” I
risked a peek at my father’s angry expression. “I know I’m weird, but I love
studying math, and—”
“Mr. Roberts,” my father interrupted. “Allyssia does not
understand.”
No one crossed my father, certainly not one of his children,
not me, and I knew him well enough to know he was struggling to hold his
temper.
“She is going to be a writer when she is older.”
I stared at him, my eyes, no doubt, as large as the
proverbial saucers. Never had he revealed his intentions so openly, so
unambiguously. Not to me, at any rate.
“I’m an author, of course,” my father continued. “Her
brothers are writers of one sort or another. She has been writing stories
herself for several years now. At her age, the best means of preparing to be a
writer is by reading, reading the classics, and the work of talented authors.
By reading good literature, she will develop an ear for words, their patterns,
their…”
I tuned out the rest of his argument. Never had I heard
anyone say outright that I would be an author like my father and my brothers.
No one had ever told me the Barrett Band was destined to be a quintet. I
crossed my arms and scowled. I had written stories, true, but the prospect of
spending my life dating a word processor made me shiver.
“Learning how to solve for X might be a useful skill,” my
father said in a patronizing tone, “but one she can develop later. Her verbal
abilities need to be nourished now.”
I had turned my head away and was staring at a huge vase of
flowers on the credenza behind Mr. Roberts’ desk when I suddenly realized my
father’s diatribe had ceased.
“Allyssia…Allyssia, are you with us?” Mr. Roberts waved his
hand as he called to me, and he chuckled when I smiled.
“Yes, sir.” My hand trembled, but I had already crossed my
father by telling Mr. Roberts I had chosen to take Algebra. I might as well go
down fighting.
I raised my head and stuck out my chin.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Review: A woman reflects back on her childhood as she holds the book—a memoir—written by her father. Her recollection was written in well-versed and lyrical tones that captivate the reader right from the start.
It would seem that Allysia never fit in and was considered the black sheep in a renowned family of extinguished male writers. Her mother was the only one who truly understood and loved her. When she died, Allysia, even at a young age, had questioned her place in the family. Her father “suddenly seemed to realize he now was an explorer treading a treacherous, unfamiliar path, one on which a single errant step might prove disastrous [and] he had no clue how to approach an angry, unhappy nine-year-old girl.”
The narrative was fine and eloquent as it recounted the journaling coming-of-age tale of a girl, lost and alone. Yes, the read felt too long at times with some of the childhood allegories not adding much to the story and feeling strikingly daunting. Yet, I still couldn’t help but be drawn to the story. Allysia’s story was raw and genuine. I just wished that the chapters that told a segment of her life weren’t so long. The writing was good and the overall read was fairly nice.
Rating:
3 stars
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
We
live near Charleston, South Carolina. I’ve always enjoyed the Carolina beaches.
I now have the opportunity to walk on the beach almost every day and to
photograph the ocean, the sea birds, and the marshes that I love.
I
love photography, and I have photographed subjects as varied as prehistoric
ruins on the islands of Scotland, star trails, sea gulls, and a Native American
powwow. My wife and I have traveled widely in the United States and the United
Kingdom. During trips to Scotland, we visited Crathes Castle, the ancestral
home of the Burnett family near Aberdeen, and Kismul Castle on Barra, the home
of my McNeil ancestors.
I
went to school for much longer than I want to admit, and I have degrees in
psychology and education. In an “earlier life” I was director of research for
our state’s education department.
For
more information about my other books or to join my mailing list go to
www.BurnettsBooks.com, or like my Amazon author page at
http://amazon.com/author/davidburnett
Buy
Link
www.amazon.com/Child-Swan-David-Burnett-ebook/dp/B0F1JPPG87/
Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/DavidBurnett.Author
Amazon
Author Page
https://www.amazon.com/author/davidburnett
Website
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