{"product_id":"2940014262125","title":"The Man Who Left","description":"2013 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER\u003cbr\u003e2013 BARNES \u0026amp; NOBLE BESTSELLER\u003cbr\u003e2013 AMAZON.COM BESTSELLER\u003cbr\u003e2013 iTUNES BESTSELLER\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTHE MAN WHO LEFT is a memoir about the importance of fathers. It's about the men who leave, and the men who stay.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt's a familiar story. Father leaves his wife and children and never looks back. Theresa Weir was five when her father left his family for a better life with a wealthy socialite. Many years passed with only occasional and grudging contact by Theresa's father. When Theresa married into a successful farm family, her father resurfaced, but she couldn't help but be suspicious of his awkward visits. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eYears later, when the aging socialite dies and Theresa's father is diagnosed with Alzheimer's, people expect Theresa to move to Florida to care for him. A daughter's duty. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis is Theresa's personal story of a strained and painful father\/daughter relationship. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhat does a daughter owe the father who abandoned her? \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e~~~\u003cbr\u003eFrom the editor:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTHE MAN WHO LEFT could be considered a companion to the stunning memoir THE ORCHARD. But where THE ORCHARD is a dark fairy tale, THE MAN WHO LEFT is pure Middle American gothic, told in Theresa Weir's unadorned yet richly powerful and emotionally resonant style. A story about the burdens of remembering and the costs of forgetting, THE MAN WHO LEFT poignantly chronicles the emotional consequences of betrayal and abandonment by those who are supposed to love us the most.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e~~~\u003cbr\u003eFrom the book: \u003cbr\u003eI doubt I'll ever forgive him.  It's not in me to forgive him, but my own sense of humanity won't let me ignore him and his plight.  This would be easier if he were a stranger. Or, if I loved him. If he were a stranger, I could help him without having to listen to stories that pierce my heart, stories of a fabulous life that didn't include his children. If I loved him, I would swoop him up and carry him off to live with me.\u003cbr\u003eThrough the wall, I hear him shift in his bed, and I hear the jingle of a dog collar, and I imagine the two Dalmatians curled beside him in the king-sized bed. The walls are pale blue, covered in framed Irene Spencer prints; soft images of mothers cuddling babies. Long white dressers with gold trim are strewn with Eve's ornate perfume bottles and tiered glass shelves of jewelry.  A floral spread covers my father in oblivion, his shape undefined and fragile. He doesn't know it, but he is the man who broke us.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e~~~\u003cbr\u003ePRAISE FOR THE ORCHARD\u003cbr\u003eAn Oprah Magazine Fall Pick \u003cbr\u003eFeatured Review in Entertainment Weekly\u003cbr\u003eNumber Two on October Indie Next List\u003cbr\u003eBJ's Book Club Spotlight\u003cbr\u003eLIbrarians'  Best Books of 2011Maclean's Top Books of 2011\u003cbr\u003eOn Point (NPR) Best Books of 2011\u003cbr\u003eAbrams Best of 2011\u003cbr\u003ePublishers Lunch (Publishers Weekly) Favorite Books of 2011Best Nonfiction of 2011\u003cbr\u003eOne Book, One Community Read\u003cbr\u003eTarget Book Club Pick, September 2012","brand":"Belfry Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47164886614256,"sku":"2940014262125","price":4.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940014262125_p0.jpg?v=1763604068","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940014262125","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}