The promise of rest

Description

Returning to his North Carolina family home to die from AIDS, Wade Mayfield induces feelings and patience in his attending, divorced parents that initiate a possible reunion and the perpetuation of a proud family tradition.

Description

In the spring of 1993, after nine years as an architect in New York City, Wade Mayfield returns to North Carolina. This is no ordinary move; for Wade, at the age of thirty-three, has come back to his father's house to die of AIDS. Against the backdrop of the ongoing AIDS pandemic, The Promise of Rest explores such timeless matters as love, family loyalty and suffering, race, freedom, and duty. Wade's parents, Hutch and Ann, have recently separated; but for the remaining months of their only child's life, they and their friends come together in steady care for Wade and in the knowledge and sustenance they gain from his patience and his undaunted determination to die as himself. When death comes, they are slowly amazed to learn of the ongoing mystery Wade has arranged to reveal after his departure - a mystery that not only initiates a possible reunion for his parents but also promises to continue the proud vitality of a complex, multiracial family that had seemed destined for extinction.

Subjects

Series Statement

• A Great circle

Other Editions

• The promise of restScribner1995-01-01
• The Promise of RestpaperbackScribner1996-11-05
• The promise of restRagged Raven2002-01-01
• Promise of RestSimon & Schuster, Limited2010-01-01