By Jason F. Wright

New York Times bestselling author, Jason F. Wright became a favorite among readers with his first two national releases, Christmas Jars and The Wednesday Letters. Publishers Weekly has called his work, “heartening, wholesome, humorous, suspenseful and redemptive.” In his new novel RECOVERING CHARLES (Shadow Mountain Publishers; Hardcover; $21.95), Wright once again takes readers on a thought-provoking journey of love and loss and reveals the ultimate healing power of forgiveness.

Luke Millward leads a seemingly care-free life as a successful photographer in Manhattan. He has traveled the world, made great friends, and has a wonderful reputation for his work—life could not be better. Yet there is more to Luke Millward’s story than he lets on—a troubled past lurks in the shadows holding painful memories of a childhood cut short by addiction, neglect, and depression—memories he doesn’t discuss, memories he has spent his adult life trying to forget.

That is until one fateful day when Luke receives an unexpected phone call from a stranger that forces open old wounds. It is August 2005 and New Orleans is underwater. Hurricane Katrina has just unleashed its fury on the Gulf Coast and the disconnected voice on the other line is calling to ask Luke to come in search of his father, Charles, who went missing amidst the chaos and devastation of the storm. As a swell of emotions rush through Luke’s body, he debates whether or not his father is someone he truly cares to recover.

Torn by conflicted feelings for his father—a musician and loving family man turned alcoholic vagrant after the death of Luke’s mother—Luke half-heartedly sets out to find his missing father. Upon his arrival, he discovers that Charles established a new life in New Orleans, complete with a loving fiancée, Jezebel, and a close-knit group of friends he considered family. Initially unsure of this group of strangers who claimed to love “Charlie” so dearly, Luke comes to accept them as his own friends and family, all the while learning deep lessons about forgiveness and love, allowing for a better understanding of the man he once held in such high regard, but who had become all but a stranger to him—his father, Charles.

In RECOVERING CHARLES, Wright proves that it often takes a catastrophe for people to gain perspective on the truly important things in life. The Millwards provide hope for new beginnings and capture the essence of family—regardless of how dysfunctional—and the end result is a heartrending story for anyone who has had their share of tough times, regretted words unspoken, and for those of us who need to know that life has a second verse.