Albert Dell'apa

How to Win a Chestnut Fight Albert Dell'apa

By all objective measures, forty-year-old Andy Desanctis is a success. He has a lucrative legal career, a beautiful wife, a compassionate teenage daughter, and a high-rise condo on Toronto's waterfront. Yet ever since Andy received his mother's most recent phone call, he's been uneasy. Despite many fond memories of growing up in Rosewater, he hasn't set foot in his rural hometown for fifteen years. Too many things happened there that he can't confront; too many cries for help were left unanswered. His mother's pleas were desperate, however, and Andy can't avoid returning to Rosewater any longer. His father is ill and his mother is scared; they both need him. There's just no choice but to walk into the fire. Reuniting in Rosewater with the entire Desanctis clan, Andy must acknowledge the potential loss of his tough-as-steel father. On a deeper level, he must grapple with the things he saw, the choices he made, and what he should have done-decisions that continue to torment him as an adult. The homecoming poses a quandary: Andy can heal and move on, or he can let the past destroy him.