Constellations

It's 1974 in DeKalb County, Illinois and the planets have failed to align for Roy Conlon. Widowed and broke, his eight-year-old son Eric is suddenly a mystery to him. The boy has become aware of a sky awhirl with stars and of the universe outside his small-Midwestern town. And as powerful forces pull Eric away, Roy's efforts to hold onto his son are threatened by weakness, guilt, and his participation in a foolish crime.Enter The Constellations, a novel of the diverging paths of a father and his son, and how each copes with the loss of the woman whose love and guidance held them together. Roy and Eric's parallel journeys take them through a landscape populated by long shot players and kitchen sink philosophers, by ruthless thieves and fierce protectors. A compelling novel of small town America in the shadow of Vietnam and Watergate, Cunningham's spare prose and deftly drawn heroes complete a portrait of our country reminiscent of Mark Richard and Jim Shepard. Scarred, divided, and damaged, his characters represent all of our false promises and failed dreams.

In his concise, engrossing debut, Cunningham turns family dynamics upside down in a panoramic portrait of loss and grieving…. Evocative of Kent Haruf's and Anthony Doerr's, Cunningham's tenderness and terse prose style announce the arrival of an assured and perceptive literary voice., In this debut novel, Cunningham writes with confidence, employing a spare, straightforward style that conveys the story with fluid minimalism. The author's talent for quiet, meditative character studies is on full display in this slim slice of smalltown life.

Kevin Cunningham lives and works in Wilmette, Illinois.