Sins of the Father and The Mango Tree Cafe, Loi Kroh Road

The theme of the sins of the father has been universal in art, way before the discovery of material passed down through genes. My hunch is that ultimately the legacy of Ted Kennedy, who died today, will be carved out in context of what drove his father Joseph Kennedy and how the son struggled - successfully and not so well - against "destiny."

One brilliant exploration of that theme is the novel "The Mango Tree Cafe." By authors Taryn Simpson and Alan Solomon, it creates Everyman Larry. His father's passivity - stuck in the butterfat of farming life in New Zealand - drives the son to find a mission - and meaning. The father also passes onto the son too much dependence on alcohol. Although Larry, like much of humanity including Ted Kennedy, defaults often into escape through booze, he does find his way to a somewhere. That's unusual. The lion's share of the wounded, confused, curious more frequently journey only to find themselves still stuck in that metaphorical butterfat.

The somewhere is Loi Kroh Road in Thailand. Legend has it that dark ghostly presences dating back to 1296 hang out on that road. Larry finds redemption attempting to counteract that force. He and the woman he rescued from prostitution Noo operate the Mango Tree Cafe. It provides a more than clean well-lighted place to drink, eat, and tell one's story to Larry's sympathetic ear. Doing good results in doing well. Larry becomes wealthy enough to finance the heart operation which saves Noo. Sound a bit too inspirational? It isn't written that way.

This morality tale is about the possibility of triumphing over what could or maybe should be our destiny. Larry does more than run, lapse into alcoholism, and stare inward. As the adage goes, Destiny isn't what happens. It's what we create. For attorneys haunted by the dreams of their fathers, professors and mentors about what their career paths ought to be, Larry's struggle might provide hope that there is a way out of the past.

A worldwide revolution in how we make our living means that even the best and brightest are forced to search, and in new ways. Indie book award-winner "The Mango Tree Cafe" can be ordered from Amazon.com here.