Little Trespasses
“The characters were delightfully Southern and quirky. I loved the dialogue and the fast-paced flow of the writing. The intertwined stories touching on sexual orientation, sexual affairs, faith, family secrets, special relationships, and criminal activities – from robbery and assault to hate crimes and murder – were all peppered with the appropriate amount of wryness. The twists and turns, the little pieces of information gleaned here and there throughout the novel, all made for an intriguing read. I think this excellent novel will be well-received.”
Sherry Browett,
Booklover, Fairfax, Virginia
“As a long-time fan of Wilmot Irvin's fiction, I thought he had written his best with a quirky little masterpiece titled Chronicle of the Life and Times of Fletcher Lowe. I was wrong. In Little Trespasses, he scales an even higher peak in a quintessential Southern novel about the human heart. The reader won't soon forget the story Irvin spins about Jake Plantain, Jr., a man for all seasons.”
Robert Lamb,
Author of A Majority of One and Atlanta Blues
Chronicle of the Life and Times of Fletcher Lowe
“For readers of my earlier works of fiction, Chronicle of the Life and Times of Fletcher Lowe will stand apart, for better or worse. Perhaps those who read me here for the first time will find this story disquieting: amusing at times, aberrant at others. It is emblematic of our postmodern American culture.”
– WILMOT IRVIN
“You’ve heard that good things come in small packages. Believe it. This little book of barely 100 pages packs a comedic wallop out of all proportion to its size and introduces readers to Fletcher Lowe, an unforgettable character – and “character” is certainly the word. Fletcher Lowe – not Fletcher, never Fletch, but always the whole name – is the quintessential dingbat whose brand of lunacy challenges description. If you need a barrel of laughs in a tale well told, don’t miss Wilmot Irvin’s Chronicle of the Life and Times of Fletcher Lowe.”
– ROBERT LAMB
Merriman's Second Chance
John Merriman is a crusty old trial lawyer who makes a career of skating across the ethical boundaries drawn by his profession. His nemesis, the self-righteous county solicitor Malcolm T. Prescott, makes life difficult for Merriman until the tables are turned - and Prescott finds himself in the seat of the accused.
Merriman’s plain-speaking wife May and their omniscient terrier Leland, tough cop Detective Lieutenant Michael O’Shea Barrow, and unexpected health problems each play a role in Merriman's redemption, but the serendipitous second chance to become a good and honest lawyer is the key to the transformation that takes place in Merriman's life.
Jack's Passage
The story of a boy’s sometimes turbulent journey through adolescence and into maturity, delicately unfolded through his relationships with parents, grandparents and, ultimately, Marion - the girl of his dreams. Imprisoned for a time by guilt and self-doubt, young Jack is drawn to his grandmother Nell, who never fully recovered from the accidental death of her first child, and together the two are set free through an intimacy that shapes and defines the boy’s life.
Set primarily in a sleepy Blue Ridge mountain town, the novel weaves the threads of a tender love story into the fabric of a suspenseful tale of crime and courtroom drama. Marion’s involvement as a witness at the trial nearly derails their relationship, but love proves stronger than guilt, and in the end Jack and Marion’s destiny is secure.
Jack’s Passage is a testament to the redeeming power of families and the relationships that exist within them. The strength Jack draws from the love of those around him enables the boy to surmount the obstacles of adolescence and attain passage into manhood. In the process Jack learns to share the love that made him strong with those who need it most.
THERE IS A RIVER
Two seemingly incompatible families are thrown together by their competing motivations - kindness and greed, hope and despair - and the proximity of their home places in rural South Carolina. Caroline, the adolescent daughter of country gentleman and novelist Gordon Clement, befriends Mangel, the forty- something retarded son of Welborn and Hazel Ricketts, a crusty backwoods couple with a dark and mysterious past. Hungry for the unconditional kindness he receives from Caroline’s family, Mangel falls in love with the girl’s beautiful yet unaffected mother Frances, who recognizes his feelings as the long overdue emotions of an adolescent experiencing his first puppy love.
When the malevolent Welborn and his reprobate nephew Harley kidnap Caroline, the Clements’ idyllic lifestyle suddenly comes unglued. In New York with his literary agent scrambling to meet the deadline for publication of his third novel, Gordon returns to find the sheriff and his deputies combing his property, hot on the trail of Caroline’s abductors. Through the crisis of the kidnapping each of the main characters comes to a crossroads - some receiving the gift of faith and others rejecting it. The childlike trust of the novel’s central character - the once-pathetic Mangel - ultimately binds the families together, and out of his weakness emerges a strength born of the abundant grace of God and the irrepressible love of his mother. Bursting with hope, the story is a triumph of the forces of good over evil - and of faith over despair.
THE STORYTELLERS
A thoughtful exploration of one man’s coming to terms with his past – and his future. His father’s funeral, his brother’s suicide, and his unexpected love for his brother’s widow throw quiet, intellectual Bick Averett into a whirlwind of emotion that will change his life forever.
“Of fathers and sons... ‘Life is a story,’ says the young boy, Cal, in Wilmot B. Irvin’s delightful Southern tale, ‘and sharing it with people you love is a good thing.’ This revelation, made by Cal after the suicide of his hard-drinking father, Tompkins, is addressed to Tompkins’ brother, Thornton ‘Bick’ Averett, Irvin’s likeable Everyman hero. The Storytellers is rich in imagery. The characters are poignant in their struggles and triumphs, the plot nicely paced and the style lush with the sleepy charm of a coastal South Carolina town.”
– Ellen Tanner Marsh,
New York Times best-selling author
SOME KIND OF KIN
It all takes place one summer in Summerville. Chanel – an African- American nanny with strength and determination, a heart full of love and a golden incisor – takes on the job of looking after Maurice and Becky – a couple of twelve-year-old white kids with more leisure time than sense. Becky’s mom, Livvy, is rebounding from a divorce. Maurice’s dad, Chet, is grieving from the death of his wife. Their painful recoveries from these losses in their former lives blind Livvy and Chet to their own romance until Livvy decides to move to Cincinnati. With Chanel as their catalyst and source of courage, Maurice and Becky devise a plan to open their parents’ eyes to the fact that they have fallen in love. And in the process best pals Maurice and Becky become some kind of kin.