Tom Young wants to make a difference in the world. He joins the Peace Corps and is sent to an impoverished farm community in remote southern Chile where a reforestation project is the campesinos' only hope for a better future.
Tom finds himself in a breathtakingly beautiful land from a bygone era. Horses and oxen provide transportation, light is from kerosene lamps, and water is fetched with buckets from springs. He is drawn to the closeness of Chilean family life, and desperately wants to fit in as he struggles with the language and customs. Fighting depression and loneliness, he slowly adapts, but is shocked when brutal acts of violence rock the community.
Tom's bonds are truly forged with this forgotten world when he embarks on the seemingly impossible task of building a new road into the campo. What he doesn't anticipate is the relationship that develops with a beautiful young woman, a relationship that will provide the key to Tom's heartwarming -- and heartbreaking -- acceptance into the community.
Tom finds himself in a breathtakingly beautiful land from a bygone era. Horses and oxen provide transportation, light is from kerosene lamps, and water is fetched with buckets from springs. He is drawn to the closeness of Chilean family life, and desperately wants to fit in as he struggles with the language and customs. Fighting depression and loneliness, he slowly adapts, but is shocked when brutal acts of violence rock the community.
Tom's bonds are truly forged with this forgotten world when he embarks on the seemingly impossible task of building a new road into the campo. What he doesn't anticipate is the relationship that develops with a beautiful young woman, a relationship that will provide the key to Tom's heartwarming -- and heartbreaking -- acceptance into the community.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
David Mather grew up in Sarasota,
Florida, before attending school in New England where he graduated from
Deerfield Academy ('64) and Bowdoin College ('68). He then served in
southern Chile with the Peace Corps from 1968 - 70. He was the most
isolated volunteer in his program, and the two years in the Peace Corps
strongly influenced him. Upon his return, he bought land in Lyme, N.H.,
and built a cabin in the woods. He has lived off-grid for over forty
years. Self-educated in forestry, he founded a successful specialty
lumber business that sold rare domestic woods nationwide. He has
traveled extensively, especially throughout Latin America, and returned
twice to Chile to do research for his book. He and his wife now split
their time between Lyme and a small fishing village on Florida's gulf
coast. One For The Road is his first novel.
The author's winter home on the Gulf Coast of Florida |
The author's summer cabin in New Hampshire |
