Weight of Him

In The Weight of Him Billy Brennan undergoes an unforgettable journey in a starting attempt to resurrect his family and reignite hearts his own most of all.At four hundred pounds Billy can always count on food. From his earliest memories he has loved food''s colors textures and tastes. The way flavors go off in his mouth. How food keeps his mind still and his bad feelings quiet. Food has always made everything better until the day Billy''s beloved son Michael takes his own life.Billy determines to make a difference in Michael''s memory and undertakes a public weight-loss campaign to raise money for suicide prevention--his first step in an ambitious plan to save himself and to save others. However Billy''s dramatic crusade appalls his family who want to simply try to go on quietly privately.Despite his crushing detractors Billy gains welcome allies: his community-at-large; a co-worker who lost his father to suicide; a filmmaker with his own dubious agenda; and a secret miniature kingdom that Billy populates with the sub-quality dolls and soldiers he saves from disposal at the toy factory where he works. But it is only if Billy can confront the truth of the suffering and brokenness within and around him that he and others will be able to realize the recovery they need.Told against the backdrop of rural contemporary Ireland The Weight of Him is a big-hearted novel about loss and reliance that moves from tragedy to recrimination to what can be achieved when we take the stand of our lives.