The Breedlow Legacy

by Mr. John M. McNamara

Daniel Breedlow, a retired public relations executive, during the COVID pandemic isolates himself in his Lake Michigan home, amused by how a world in crisis has shifted toward his lifestyle: secluded and withdrawn, connecting with a handful of other people out of necessity, not choice. One day a woman appears in his yard and identifies herself as his niece. The daughter of a brother from whom he enjoyed estrangement for decades and who is now deceased, and when he tries to dismiss Maggie, she persists, invoking his mother when he wonders how she found him. Daniel's misanthropy extends to his family, with only the thinnest of threads still linking him to them.
Maggie explains her purpose: Daniel's brother Aidan abandoned the wife and children from his first marriage. Her mother's bitterness toward Aidan contaminated the children's' knowledge of their father, and Maggie approached first her grandmother and now her uncle to flesh out a portrait of the man she never really knew.
Daniel's feud with his brother predates Aidan's marriage to Maggie's mother and tells her he knew as little about the man as any other member of his family. "Talk to them," he advises, eager to rid himself of his niece's intrusion. But Maggie, an historian, resists his efforts. She wants to mine Daniel for memories of her father from the time before their schism, when as young boys they played together, shared confidences, and also learn what precipitated the rift. Daniel accedes to her requests, with conditions, and they begin a correspondence that culminates in Maggie returning for a visit that includes extensive interviews.
Daniel's resisted initially because he feared Maggie's intrusion in his life would drag other members of his family back into his orbit, and his fears are realized. But as he warms to his niece and her desire to know more about her origins, memories of his brother provoke unexpected instances of nostalgia.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0BPQ9M7SH
• ISBN13: 9798368016818
• Release Date: December 2022
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 266 Pages
• Weight: 0.79 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.0" x 9.0"