“All great literature is one of two stories; a man goes on a journey or a stranger comes to town.”
― Leo Tolstoy

 

 

From the Jacket

The Poet of Tolstoy Park is the unforgettable novel based on the true story of Henry Stuart’s life, which was reclaimed from his doctor’s belief that he would not live another year.

Henry responds to the news by slogging home barefoot in the rain. It’s 1925. The place: Canyon County, Idaho. Henry is sixty-seven, a retired professor and a widower who has been told a warmer climate would make the end more tolerable. San Diego would be a good choice.

Instead, Henry chose Fairhope, Alabama, a town with utopian ideals and a haven for strong-minded individualists. Upton Sinclair, Sherwood Anderson, and Clarence Darrow were among its inhabitants. Henry bought his own ten acres of piney woods outside Fairhope. Before dying, underscored by the writings of his beloved Tolstoy, Henry could begin to “perfect the soul awarded him” and rest in the faith that he, and all people, would succeed, “even if it took eons.”

 

My Thoughts

 

Henry Stuart, main character, is a study in fully becoming. His intellectual and physical quest takes the reader on a journey unlike any other. Most of us would immediately begin preparing for the end after a diagnosis such as his. Instead, he packs up and prepares to welcome the end of his life on his own terms. He moves across the country and buys a remote property. He then proceeds to build a house the like of which had never been seen in rural Alabama. In the meanwhile, he develops a reputation among the locals as a surly, odd curmudgeon.   Henry is eventually welcomed into the arms of the town, and is regarded as a Tolstoy quoting treasure. However, that one year became decades, and his years in Alabama, along the Mobile Bay, bring him great joy and peace.

Overall, the book was an enjoyable break from current events and current issues. The timeless appeal of reading about how one accepts adversity is provided in spades. Henry’s cleverness as a builder and the fact that the hut still stands is remarkable. Those with an old fashioned Granddaddy will  long for an afternoon visit with him after reading this book. I highly recommend this book for those who seek a quiet yet meaningful story, based on a real life character.

 

About the Author

 

Sonny’s training as a writer began with his first real job at 15, where he flipped burgers as a short-order cook at Woody’s Drive-In in Millport, Alabama. His story-telling education continued as service station attendant, pants folder, folk singer, used car salesman, sailor and electronics technician in the U.S. Navy, tugboat deckhand, traveling used tire salesman, carpenter, building contractor, real estate salesman, purveyor of collectible automobiles, magazine editor, newspaper columnist, teacher, lecturer, and coffeehouse manager.

Sonny knuckled down in there somewhere and collected a couple of college degrees, which might or might not have helped. Knowing that a writer never lets the truth stand in the way of a good story, Sonny believes he is missing some critical experience in embellishment. He has not yet made a bid for political office nor preached a tent revival—though, regarding the latter, he has always hankered to do so, choosing not to, however, under threat of divorce.

From the authors website:  Fairhope Writer’s Colony

 

 

Visit the Round Hut Built By Henry Stuart

 

Amazingly, the round hut that Henry built is still standing in a parking lot in Fairhope, Alabama. After reading the book, we visited the town, specifically to see this humble little cottage. It’s open to the public, contains relics and artifacts, and is a true hidden gem in the literary off roads.

 

Books by Sonny Brewer