Groomed for greatness, 15-year-old Jacob Hawthorne is sent to boarding school against his will. Jacob’s resentment toward his family reaches an all-time high when his father doesn’t bother to see him off for the 1980 school year. With a self-absorbed mother, an estranged father, and an older brother on the other side of the world, only the unlikely friendship with his grandfather can lure Jacob back home. But home feels like a distant memory from the shore of Raker Island, the isolated campus of one of the Northeast’s elite boarding schools.
As the surrogate bonds of a cloistered all-boys school fall into place, Jacob finds himself among other sons of privilege who suffer the same affliction—growing up in their fathers’ shadow. In fact, Jacob and his friends get dubbed “the Headliners” when their fathers make the headlines on the same day. Among them is Chris Forsythe, the rebellious son of a high-profile politician whose helicopter arrival sparks jealousy among the school’s upperclassmen.
Wellington Academy has been selected to host that fall’s senatorial debate, and Chris’ father is one of the candidates. Chris convinces Jacob—who is among the students selected to question the candidates on live television—to expose his father for embezzling money to finance his reelection campaign. Only Mr. O’Leary, Wellington’s inquisitive history teacher, stands in the way of Chris’ influence over Jacob. He alone can stop the inevitable head-on father-son collision that Chris is guiding Jacob toward. But when tragedy strikes, Jacob is forced to journey into the past to reclaim a well-guarded family secret.
As the surrogate bonds of a cloistered all-boys school fall into place, Jacob finds himself among other sons of privilege who suffer the same affliction—growing up in their fathers’ shadow. In fact, Jacob and his friends get dubbed “the Headliners” when their fathers make the headlines on the same day. Among them is Chris Forsythe, the rebellious son of a high-profile politician whose helicopter arrival sparks jealousy among the school’s upperclassmen.
Wellington Academy has been selected to host that fall’s senatorial debate, and Chris’ father is one of the candidates. Chris convinces Jacob—who is among the students selected to question the candidates on live television—to expose his father for embezzling money to finance his reelection campaign. Only Mr. O’Leary, Wellington’s inquisitive history teacher, stands in the way of Chris’ influence over Jacob. He alone can stop the inevitable head-on father-son collision that Chris is guiding Jacob toward. But when tragedy strikes, Jacob is forced to journey into the past to reclaim a well-guarded family secret.
- Kindle: 546 KB
- Print Length: 294 pages
- Publisher: Shadeflower Press; 1 edition (October 1, 2012)
- ASIN: B009V7HOPW
- AMAZON US
- AMAZON CA
Author Bio:
The Keeper of Dawn is J.B. Hickman's debut novel. He lives in St. Paul, Minnesota with his wife and two children. Visit J.B. Hickman's website at www.jbhickmanonline.com.
Review:
Bring tissues for the epilogue.
This is a mastercraft of storytelling at its' finest. I can't begin to fathom how to describe how great this story is, but I'll try. You know that saying, "six degrees of separation"? I feel it comes to play in this book, a lot. That same feeling of so many things woven together, that all come full circle in the end. Yeah, that is what this story is.
Takes a pretty clever author to do that. At least, I think so.
I definitely look forward to reading more from this author.
4/5
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Love boarding school books! Thanks so much for stopping by!
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