RICHARD
by
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He stood there. Through his alcoholic beery haze he realized
that his arms hung down now, and, though the officers still stood on either
side of him, he was standing free.
His arms ached. And his
shoulders, where the handcuffs had pulled them back. It was only one of the many aches he had.
His bruises hurt, from his
most recent fight, to those in the past.
His back was scarred from the beatings of his childhood, and his soul
was scarred from the failures of his life.
For the past nineteen years
he had been running, fleeing from the ghosts which followed him as he ran. From somewhere in the past came a phrase he
had heard at an A.A. meeting.
“There is no such thing as a
geographical cure.”
It had been one of those
rare times when he had made some attempt to get rid of his need for beer. It had not worked. Yet he remembered the phrase.
Running for him symbolized
freedom. Freedom to be himself. Freedom to live, or die, as he wished. And, as
he stood there, flanked by officers on either side, he realized that he was
free to run again if he wished. As he
stood there he knew that she had told them to release him, to unlock the
handcuffs. She had told him he was free to go off, if he wished.
Yet, something had made him
tell the officers to bring him to her in the first place. Some inner sense of
survival. He was free to go, or free to
stay. If he went, he would be free to
sink deeper and deeper into the quagmire, if he stayed, free to try once more
for life.
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About the Book
RICHARD, set in rural Maine, is the story of the relationship between and an
elderly woman “Ma’am” and Richard, a wayward and emotionally ravaged young man.
As the novel progresses, Richard struggles to overcome, with Ma’am’s help,
personal problems, such as alcoholism, abuse, provincialism. There are humorous
passages in which Ma’am teaches Richard how to cook and wash dishes. Gradually
Richard does begin to change, and eventually because of his love for the sea,
attends Maine Maritime College, graduates and becomes a sea captain.
Richard is a compelling and
inspirational work. The warmth of the book is very appealing.
About the Author
Mariam Ghose Sherar is a
retired a Professor of Sociology from Long Island University, Brooklyn, N.Y.
Her interest has always been in the Social Problem and Maritime Sociology
areas. Since retirement, she has translated these into novels, of which Richard
is the first. In a world of violence and domestic abuse Mrs. Sherar pleads for
peaceful solutions and strongly believes that unconditional love and belief in
the individual can heal and restore youth to their full potential.
She has lived in India
during her childhood and is a grandmother. She has one daughter Farida. She
currently lives in Cherryfield, Maine and writes the weekly column for the
Downeast Coastal Press.