And One Fine Morning

About the Book

During the sweltering summer of 1975, high school buddies Alex Anderson and Paul Delfiore plan to enjoy their last hurrah before Alex leaves for college. But on this particularly hot June day, they embark on a simple errand, the consequences of which will irrevocably bind them for years to come.

An accident while diving for a stuck anchor leaves Paul terrified to go home to his abusive mother. Instead, he ends up at Alex’s house and is practically adopted into the family. Alex’s parents, Ryan and Julia, his sister Thelma, and his colorful, outspoken Uncle Graziano, make for a zesty combination in the small Connecticut home. Somehow, the odd arrangement works, or seems to. Paul fits in with Alex’s family—maybe a little too well.

As the summer wears on, tensions grow as the two boys, driven by differences in outlook and temperament, pursue different paths. A long-kept secret threatens to destroy the fragile peace they hold, and it’s not until years later, after a chance meeting in Manhattan, that the final reckoning occurs, one which will release more than two decades of bitterness.

And One Fine Morning is a haunting, coming-of-age story about two men whose destinies collide to produce tragic results, and a meditation on fate, character, family, and circumstance.

About the Author

Joseph Farrar is a native of New London, Connecticut. A Fulbright Scholar fluent in Japanese, he lives in Tokyo, Japan. And One Fine Morning is his first novel.