Robert Crooke

AMERICAN FAMILY is Tom Gannon's confession-a story of secrets and sins, set in 1950's America. Haunted by memories of his heroic father, Joe; his complicated grandfather, Hank; his stoic mother, Mary; and his boldly courageous sister, Liz, he weaves an engrossing tale-a classic narrative of love, courage, betrayal, and redemption-which he calls the story of a family, told by its "least worthy member".

American Family invokes a time when New York real estate development was controlled by arbitrary power-politics and prejudice, and when Congressional investigations into Communist influence in American institutions cast shadows of fear and suspicion over day-to-day life.

Robert Crooke summons a rich cast of characters onto this stage, and though they voice a variety of political convictions, this novelist is suspicious of extremes in ideology. It's more the human heart that interests him. And through the observant eyes of his flawed narrator, reminiscent of Holden Caulfield and Huck Finn, he takes an unforgettable journey into the moral truth of America's past-and present. It is an extraordinary reading experience in fiction.