WARM-HEARTED and moving, Wrecker is an inspiring tale of motherhood, hope, survival and forgiveness.
At three, Wrecker, named this because of his tendency to leave a “trail of broken things in his wake”, is sent to live with his aunt and uncle after his mother, Lisa Fay, is jailed for 15 years. Angry and frightened, he adjusts to his new life with a motley group of eccentrics, just as they adjust to life with a child – and the group becomes a real, if unusual, family. Each one struggles with their own past and problems, but as they care for the boy, they learn lessons about themselves and life they may never otherwise have learnt.
Early on in the book, Wrecker is described as “ballast she (Lisa Fay) needed to ride steady; he was rudder, anchor and sail”. So too, he is for Melody, his “adoptive” mother, Willow, Len, Ruth, Meg and Johnny Appleseed. And while Wrecker eventually comes to grips with his identity, Lisa Fay has not given up hope of a reunion and forgiveness.
This is a book full of heart and soul, one full of compassion, redemption and generosity. It would make a great book club read.
