Ever After: A Father's True Story

Ever After (published in the UK as Wrongful Deaths) is the most personal of William Wharton's novels. It tells the tragic life story of the writer's eldest daughter from her childhood, through unhappy marriage and not-too-successful career in teaching to her second much happier marriage and tragic death in a traffic accident caused by grass burning in Oregon. The accident took the lives of her, her husband and two daughters. This part is poignant and most touching. The second part details the attempts of the relatives of the deceased to bring the guilty to justice and, which is by far more important, to ban grass burning in the state of Oregon. This part is even more likely to bring tears to your eyes as it is a long and losing battle. The mourning families don't stand any chance against the US political and legal system, and the local fat cats. They are cheated and ouwitted by cunning lawyers and politicians too greedy to see that their actions only add to family tragedies. Wharton's dissection of the US legal system is extremely edifying to anyone who still believes in it. Wharton presents his personal tragedy in an extremely touching way, inviting the reader to share his loss without giving up his dignity. It is an important and sadly overlooked novel.

My father was a close freind of the deceased in the book. He never met the author, but he knew the family. He was described in the book as building his own house (which is fictional, because he never built a house). This book is very graphic in how the bodies were found, and how the family was killed. Wharton makes up some of the names and of course some of the events in the book.

A year and a half ago I read the, then latest book, "Ever After," by my favorite author, William Wharton. The author of "Birdy," "Dad," and most recently, "Houseboat on the Seine," depicts the horrendous 23 car pile up on Oregon's Interstate 5 in the summer of '88, that occured due to field burning near Albany, Oregon. Seven deaths resulted out of overt negligence on the part of Oregon laws, businesses, political action committees and the farmer(s) involved. The author dealing with the personal impact of this tragedy, eventually decides to take action and attempts to pursue legal recourse. The book outlines the tremendous forces that come into play within our business/legal/political system(s) when it comes to assuming responsibility/liability for both the personal and ongoing environmental disasters that evolve out of negligence and irresponsibility. This book stirs even the apathetic into action

William Wharton, author of DAd and Birdy writes a moving account of his daughters death in Oregon and of his attempt to bring attention to the dangeous practice of field burning by large seed companies. An intensely moving experience, especially if you have children. Highly reccommended