Henry Dear

Can a depressed optometrist trapped in a corner of a Bay Area Wal-Mart, living with his overbearing mother ever gain his emotional freedom and possibly find love? HENRY DEAR answers just such a question as it chronicles the account of a middle-aged man struggling to win his independence from his mother in a sometimes funny, sometimes poignant psychological battle of wills. When Henry invites Alhaum, a captivating Iranian-born single mother of Santi, a teenage miscreant, and six-year-old Tao, a musical prodigy to live in the house as roommates, the conflict between Henry and his mother escalates to mammoth proportions. Lives are shattered after a car accident, and Henry must fight to conquer his inner sense of guilt, rising above familial expectations and a haunting past if he is to reclaim his life.

Can a depressed optometrist trapped in a corner of a Bay Area Wal-Mart, living with his overbearing mother ever gain his emotional freedom and possibly find love? HENRY DEAR answers just such a question as it chronicles the account of a middle-aged man struggling to win his independence from his mother in a sometimes funny, sometimes poignant psychological battle of wills. When Henry invites Alhaum, a captivating Iranian-born single mother of Santi, a teenage miscreant, and six-year-old Tao, a musical prodigy to live in the house as roommates, the conflict between Henry and his mother escalates to mammoth proportions. Lives are shattered after a car accident, and Henry must fight to conquer his inner sense of guilt, rising above familial expectations and a haunting past if he is to reclaim his life.

Katrina Prado is the author of several novels, including a mystery series as well as many literary short stories. She has had material published in Woman’s World, Potpourri, The Chrysalis Reader, The Santa Clara Review, Lite, and Woman. Ms. Prado’s comments have also appeared in Yoga Journal. She has been a freelance writer for Woman’s World magazine and her work has aired on Public Radio’s Valley Writers Read. She was a two-time panelist at the Sacramento Reads! book festival. Her short story Twig Doll won first place in the 2000 Lite Circle Literary Contest. Her novels BOXES OF YEARS (March 27, 2002, Rising Tide Press), and THE WHORE OF BABYLON, A MEMOIR (January 29, 2010, Xlibris) are available at all bookstores, as well as from Amazon.com. She lives with her husband in northern California.