Loved this book! James Charlesworth is a great new voice. Can't wait to see what he writes next. Stayed with me after I put it down.

Do not let the campy fun cover fool you! This book is heavy reading. Children, from various wives, are dealing with their own failed lives and their horrible relationship with their father, the title character. Add to this the lack of clear clues as the story changes points of view and timelines and vague references to historical events taking place (such as JFK's assignation and 9-11). By the end of the book, the changes are easier to recognize and the timelines starting solidifying together. But this is one of those books that you can't breeze through. While this won't be remembered as my favorite dysfunctional family story, I did enjoy spending the time with GBH's offspring and sharing their ups and downs as they came to grip with their individual lots in life.

The Patricide of George Benjamin Hill
by James Charlesworth

Dysfunctional family – to put it mildly. I am not sure ANYONE in this story was “normal” or that they had the chance to be so. I am not sure if it was nature or nurture that caused the fractures and issues but boy did this story provide some strange characters with unusual issues and outlooks on life. The fact that most of the people blamed one person for their problems and all that negative happenings in their lives made me wonder why they didn’t accept some of the blame themselves.

The story has many characters with one central figure, George Benjamin Hill, that the others were related to. There were two wives and four children all of whom were greatly impacted by that central figure. The story begins with George and how he ended up in California with a few clues provided as to why he became the man he did. It then moves on to his first wife and the children he had with her and how he and those two sons ended up in a larger family with another woman and two more children. From California to Alaska and what happened there and then on to how George’s adult children turned out and what they were up to as they neared the half century mark of their own lives is all part and parcel of this sweeping story. Whether or not the greed of one man, George, is the reason so many lives turned out less than desirable is a question only the reader can decide.

This book was a bit disconnected feeling at times with so many people to follow and with their stories unfolding in a non-linear way. Also, tidbits that would have made the story clear and actions more understood by the reader were at times not made apparent till further along in the story. I almost gave up a few times but there was something compelling about the family that kept me reading...only to come to the end wishing many of the people I had read about could have had a different end to their stories.

This is not light easy reading and does make the reader think not only about places but about people, motivation, family, mental health, choices one makes and the impact those choices have on self and others.

Thank you to NetGalley and Skyhorse Publishing – Arcade for the ARC- This is my honest review.

4 Stars

I received this from netgalley.com in exchange for a review.

All their lives, the children of George Benjamin Hill have fought to escape the shadow of their father.

Wow, this book was all over the place. I would no sooner get used to one character or era and then everything would shift with no warning. Hard book to get a grasp on, characters didn't hang around long enough to get to know.

2 stars

Three sons and a daughter are born to a narcissistic, ambitious man, George Benjamin Hill. None of them achieve happiness, and the novel is primarily about them and how the single-minded, selfishness of their father impacted each of their lives to the point where, ultimately, a confrontation seems inevitable.

This book is an impressive literary debut. I love a dark story, and this one fits that category. If you need to love your characters in order to love the book, this one may not be for you, but all of them are well developed with interesting storylines. Their professions include a minor league baseball player, a stripper, and a bush pilot. The titular character is not so much an abusive man, but one who is neglectful of his offspring’s emotional needs and uncaring about their desires (or anyone’s that stand in his way of financial success).

This book is surprisingly feminist for a male writer, and distinctly questions the American capitalistic ideals while at the same time is an ode to place. Geography plays a huge role in the story. In fact, perhaps, it plays too big a role. The descriptions of place are extremely well done and evocative, but they also impede the pace to the point where I was tempted to skim (which I resisted).

My other concern while reading this book is that the narration often takes place in the present, but has characters recalling the past. These past events, unfortunately, are often a lot more interesting than the present day. By relating them in this way, they lose the impact and immediacy they otherwise would have had. There’s some very good, original scenes in here that deserved more time, more detail, and more dialogue than they were afforded.

The Patricide of George Benjamin Hill, a fictional account of a dysfunctional family, spans a seventy-year period from the depression years to the financial disasters of the first decade of the 2000’s. The protagonist, George Benjamin Hill, is an egocentric jerk who seeks his fortune wherever the money leads him and drags his family along. The Patricide of George Benjamin Hill is James Charlesworth’s first novel.

George’s father, an uneducated labourer, takes his family across the US to find their fortune. George’s mother and two siblings die on the trip and his father dies shortly afterwards in a freak accident. George detests the poverty that did this to his family and will do anything to rise above it. He does anything, including sacrificing two families to become rich. His children are permanently marked by their father’s willingness to put them second to most everything else. How far will they go to seek recompense for the injuries they lay at their father’s feet?

James Charlesworth is a beautiful and descriptive writer. He excels at painting pictures of specific timeframes for Las Vegas, Alaska, New York and even suburban Florida. His description of place aligns perfectly with the personal development of his characters.

Charlesworth ability to describe places and personalities is one to the reasons that I did not like the novel. From my perspective, the story becomes mired down in description. Often the jumping from each persons thought processes to place descriptions and back again leaves me confused and almost disinterested. I admit that I sometimes have skipped pages of details to get back to the story.

I also have to admit that I find the children a little too self-indulgent. For the most part their father is egotistical and focused on business rather than family, but I am not sure I understand why they hold him to blame for all of what they turn out to be. Maybe these perceptions lead me down the wrong path, but the ending doesn’t surprise me.

I rate the book 3 on 5 because although James Charlesworth is a very good writer, the story does not capture me. I want to thank NetGalley and Skyhorse publishing for providing me with a digital copy of this book in exchange for a fair review.