Bøger udgivet af Simpson Books

Josh Tailor is on a roll. But not a good one. Josh has been hanging out with the losers. Swiping lumber for their clubhouse down by the river. Smoking grass. Drinking beer. Stealing Mom's brand new Beetle convertible out of the driveway. Smashing it into a telephone pole. Almost killing himself and several of his buds. Josh is a good kid... on a bad track. The Passage-every boy has to make one. Some do it with more success than others. Josh's mom is at wit's end. It's gotten so bad she actually called her ex, Big Jack Tailor. Big Jack has been estranged from his wife and son for years. Josh sees him, but rarely, and never for long. He hates his old man, but, of course, he also worships Big Jack and secretly longs to be part of Big Jack's shadowy life. Big Jack rolls into town and offers to take Josh on a cross country adventure-Jersey to Montana. Big Sky Country. Josh is gung ho to go but Mom says no way. Josh, 15, says he's going whether she approves or not. Mom relents. Off they go, father and son. Along the way they encounter cops, Indians, arms dealers, angst, pathos, militiamen, ATF agents, and plenty of trouble. The trip will change both of them, especially Josh, who will begin to understand what it takes to become a man. The Passage is a full-bodied American novel, a kind of modern day Huckleberry Finn with Josh in the role of Huck and Big Jack in the role of Jim, a man trying to find and define freedom. Fathers and Sons, the Open Road, the Wide Open West, the Plains, the Rockies, the difficulties of Love and Truth, the Frailty of the Human Condition-all this rides inside The Passage. If you've read Thomas William Simpson's novel The Gypsy Storyteller you will enjoy The Passage, an adventure story about loyalty and responsibility and the unbreakable bond between a father and a son.

Annie's War I am ancient now and half blind and mostly deaf and stove up with rheumatism so bad I can hardly hold a cup. But still my memory is good and my brain as sharp as when I was just a girl out on the farm. And so I have decided to write down everything I can rightly remember so my grandchildren and great grandchildren will better know me and the life I lived and the country where I lived it. I do not want to leave the job to others to paint my portrait. And so begins Annie's War, Thomas William Simpson's breathtaking historical novel based on his family's experiences before, during, and after the American Civil War. May 1, 1838. A small family farm in central Pennsylvania. A tremendous storm blows up. Thunder and lightning and torrents of rain. Ray's Creek overflows its banks. In the midst of the tumult Annie Leigh Ralston is born. Over the next several years Annie's mother gives birth to three more daughters and four sons. Some survive the trials and tribulations of the age; some do not. Typhus, cholera, measles, the pox, strep, snake bites, tetanus, and many other maladies stand in the way of Annie and her siblings reaching adulthood. Farm life in the first half of the nineteenth century did not abide the sick, the weak, or the lazy. July 3, 1863. Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Annie's younger brother, a private in the 125th Pennsylvania Volunteers, is shot through the stomach during Pickett's Charge and left to die on the field of battle. Annie travels by train and wagon and on foot until she reaches her brother's side. Using homespun remedies and a love of Biblical proportions, Annie nurses the dying boy back to life. Annie's War is the chronicle of one woman's life from 1838 until 1923. But on a larger stage it is the story of 19th century American women stepping out of the shadow of suppression into the dawn of a new age. Today we have far too little understanding of the severe and repressive lives our great grandmothers led. Annie's War, a riveting and highly personal narrative, portrays one woman's struggle for knowledge, respect, and self-determination. Thomas William Simpson, the author of such diverse novels as This Way Madness Lies, The Hancock Boys, and The Affair has blended history and psychology with the personal memoir to create a fictional tour de force that will transport you back to a time when America was still struggling through its adolescence. Evocative and emotionally charged, Annie's War subtly and forcefully captures the triumph of the human spirit. A masterful narrative not to be missed. A pacifist, feminist historical novel set before, during, and after the American Civil War, Annie's War shatters the myth that America was the land of the free and the home of the brave. That might have been true for a few lucky white men, but for most minorities and virtually all women, America was the land of the oppressed and the home of indentured servitude. Women were, at best, second class citizens.

The Ferryman 8 Crossings to a Gentler Life This short tale about a man's desire to live a different kind of life unfolds during a single day. At the crack of dawn the ferryman opens his eyes to find an impatient businessman nudging him with his foot. The businessman demands they cross the river. Now. Right away. Not a minute to spare. The ferryman rises and offers tea and scones. The businessman says he has no time for tea and scones. He needs to reach the other side. Progress and profits depend on it. The ferryman understands. Before becoming a simple ferryman he had been a striver bristling with ambition, always angling to close the next deal. He had manipulated and deceived to accomplish his aims. He had believed material wealth the only true measure of success. But he cannot just yet haul the businessman across the river. He must wait for the old woman. The old woman is sick and needs to see the doctor on the other side. The Ferryman is an amusing and tender tale that attempts to shine a wide light on what might actually matter in life. Yes, we have our necessities: food and shelter, security and transportation. But what beyond these basics truly has relevance? The ferryman, who has been a humble ferryman for several years by the time we meet him, has identified eight (8) crossings that have changed his life, he thinks, for the better. By better the ferryman means richer, deeper, less stressful, more joyful. The crossings have civilized the ferryman. Benevolence in all things, the ferryman has come to believe, is the surest way to peace of mind. And really what greater gift can we bestow upon ourselves than a quiet and contented mind? Come ride the ferry with the ferryman. It's a pleasant, scenic journey filled with small gifts, interesting characters, and boundless miracles. The Ferryman is a tale of self discovery you will read over and over as your own journey passes back and forth across the river of life. Thomas William Simpson is the author of such diverse novels as The Immortal, Full Moon Over America, The Fingerprints of Armless Mike, and This Way Madness Lies. His curiosity for the human condition, as evidenced in The Ferryman, knows no bounds.