HAMPTON ROADS, Va., Feb. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Throughout history, families have fractured for a variety of reasons. Sometimes it happens over politics, sometimes money. Sometimes the reasons are far less concrete or mundane. "Beyond the Grail" (published by iUniverse) by Andrew Shankland tells the story of one such family from Ireland and how the quest for healing can cross generations.
As "Beyond the Grail" opens, readers find a typical early 20th-century rural Irish family in the midst of an atypical day. Mathew Baird, the family's patriarch, lies on his deathbed receiving last rites. With Mr. Baird gone, control of the family's land will fall to the family's eldest son, Matt. The Baird family now faces an uncertain future, for Matthew Baird the younger is a man of cold, even spiteful manners. He sees emotion as a weakness and displays a rare arrogance that manifests itself in the cruelest ways. In a display of callous superciliousness, young Matt moves his mother out of the Baird home's master bedroom and into the carriage house.
As time rolls on, Matt Baird's cruel indifference to the rest of his family continues to increase. Matt's arrogance reaches a new height when he throws his brothers off of the family's farm. The younger brothers had no way of knowing that Matt's actions would have consequences spanning generations:
"What changes ye be talking about?" asks David.
"Yous two can'ta expect to be living off me land forever," replies Matt.
"What do you mean, yous land?" asks John defiantly.
"Just what I say," answers Matt. "This land belongs to me and the time be now for yous to leave and make ye own way. There be too many responsibilities to worry about; taking care of Mum and paying yous way as well."
An argument ensues, with John yelling and swearing that he will never be put off the land that is rightfully his home, no matter what some papers say or what Matt says.
Matt turns to David saying, "And you; I guess ye be challenging me. Hah, thinking yous a better man."
"A better man, I be for certain," replies David resolutely. "That be why I have no intention being around a scoundrel like you. I be gone with my things in short order."
Andrew Shankland is a native of Newport News, Virginia. After graduating from Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, Virginia he began a career in heavy marine industry. His career took him from one coast to another, landing him in the San Francisco Bay area. Shankland's business required frequent trips abroad. In doing so he fulfilled the wish of family members to travel to Ireland and meet his extended family still living there. This historical epic was written much to the credit of his family who urged him to do so. Shankland is also the author of "THE DAY OF."
iUniverse is the premier book publisher for emerging, self-published authors. For more information, please visit www.iuniverse.com.
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