Seal Beach resident Ralph Cohen had an idea for a novel that just wouldn’t quit. The premise was simple: someone very important in the family dies. But he continues to be the dominant personality, even though he is gone.
After many false starts, and a title change due to a presidential election, the novel finally took shape. In mid-December, on the author’s birthday, the book “After Dad” debuted on Amazon.com. In mid-January, it became available as a paperback (at Amazon and CreateSpace), and Cohen is working on making it available for Barnes and Noble’s tablet reader Nook and in local stores.
“For many years I called the book ‘Dreams of My Father,’” Cohen says. “But when Obama ran for president and his memoir ‘Dreams from My Father’ came out, I had to change it. Though in many ways it’s a more apt title. The book really deals with what happens to the family after the father is gone.”
So what happens? The answer: all kinds of crazy things.
For starters, Jenny, the middle child, refuses to accept her father’s passing. Based on evidence she picks up – snatches of his voice, the smell of his cologne, a sense of his touch–she goes looking for him, and “finds” him, in various places that are reminiscent of his personality–a search that runs aground when a father-like figure takes advantage of her.
Margot, the eldest child, cynically rejects Jenny’s claim that their father may “still be with us.” But in his absence, her own life collapses, and she finds herself struggling in the sexual and cultural upheavals of the 1960s. Her lack of confidence leads her into a disastrous marriage and a suicide attempt, until a striking memory of her father comes back to her with the strength of a vision.
Toby, the youngest, turns to a life of crime–with a twist. Toby is not a gangbanger or a hard-nosed criminal. Rather, he’s a dreamy, feckless kid who breaks into the homes of neighbors to steal pieces of their lives, and to channel his father through the thrill and sheer terror of being in the wrong place. It’s a strategy that works surprisingly well–until it catches up with him.
“I was trying to answer the question, ‘What effect do we have on each other, ultimately?’” Cohen says. “And I like to think that After Dad offers some new insights.”
Two of the book’s chapters appeared previously in literary magazines.
Cohen, a 20-year resident of Seal Beach, has a background in journalism and media relations. For the past 22 years, he has been a speechwriter for major corporations. He is married to the ceramic artist, Ruhama Cohen. They have two grown sons.
