from Amazon Reviews (which are 5 stars on average):
(Check it out on Amazon)
Richard Seltzer’s mesmerizing “Parallel Lives” will keep you surprised at every turn of the page in this historical novel and mystery imbued with a fantastical theme that forms the basis of the thrilling plot. We often wonder how an alternate decision at any one point in our lives could have changed its course. Imagine if this could happen on a grand scale and change the course of history. The residents of an assisted-living facility get this unique opportunity as they travel through space and time to the environs of the American Revolution.
An erudite retiree enters this facility in the isolated atmosphere of the White Mountains with hopes of finding personal revelations in the relatively structured and tranquil existence at Arcadia Estates. As soon as he enters, with the intent of reading his prized, classic books by his recliner, his life takes an unexpected and remarkable direction. Romance blossoms in an extraordinary way, involving transformative and parallel dreams. The discovery of a cache of vintage clothes and two-hundred-year bottles of wine set the stage for an astonishing journey, which may change the path of crucial events in history.
The characters, in and of themselves, are appealing, sympathetic and multidimensional. “Parallel Lives” challenges our views of conventional thinking, allowing us to think “out of the box,” albeit in the confines of actual historical events.
As always, Richard Seltzer’s writing is informative and we come away more knowledgeable about historical periods and people. Arcadia Estates, although localized in a pastoral, mountainous setting, as its name suggests, turns out to be just the opposite. An exhilarating adventure that takes us along for the ride.
Here is a snippet from the novel itself:
Here was a world apart, totally separate from the city-life he was used to. But he wasn’t a young man, nor were the other residents. They hadn’t come here to be cured. There was no cure for what they had, and they didn’t delude themselves that they would ever move from here to another earthly dwelling. This was the end of the road. They were old and would only get older. They were here to enjoy what was left of life, ideally to figure out what life was about before it ended, and to do so in deliberate isolation from family and friends. That was the attraction of this remote location. They were on their own.”
If any Yale ’69 Classmates have read it, Yale1969.org would appreciate your adding your observations and reactions in the Comments below.
