The Long Journey
Harold Reed is only sixteen when his father asks him to leave Town Creek, Alabama for the “big city” of Decatur to meet his adored elder brother, returning home from the Great War.
After a fatherly lecture on the evils of the big city, Harold loads a horse and a mule, anticipating a solitary trek. Suddenly, a wayward hot air balloon being misguided to earth by a Greek circus performer frightens Harold’s animals away, and the garrulous Greek offers him a lift in the balloon to scout for them. The acrophobic Harold has little choice since his food and his expensive barber tools disappeared with his animals.
Eventually, Kazantakis and Harold spy a tiny man in a Confederate costume, leading the animals along. Sean O’Donohue, “second cousin to leprechauns of County Cork” joins the duo. Soon, they befriend a Choctaw woman who reluctantly joins the group. Unexpectedly, tragedy precedes their arrival in Decatur.
With no sign of his brother at the station, Harold looks up a Mrs. Prudence Longshore, whom his father advised would see him through safely. Harold’s life opens up further as he learns more than he bargains for from the denizens of Decatur.
This novel of the South draws deeply on the author’s Alabama roots, giving the reader a fresh look at Southern history. Harper Lee states on the book jacket: “Wayne Greenhaw is one of the best-ever writers of narrative fiction.” This reader agrees with her completely.
