Book Review: Birthday Pie by Arthur Wooten

Novelist and playwrite Arthur Wooten has built up an enviable following for his work through his popular novels On Picking Fruit and its sequel Fruit Cocktail. Now he's back with a new story of human emotions and familial strife that has been resonating with readers since its release.

Birthday Pie is the story of Lex Martindale. Lex makes a trip home to spend his birthday with his family, where he also wants to enjoy some quality time with his ill father. While there he struggles to decide whether or not to tell his family that he too is suffering from a life threatening ailment.

Lex's visit does more than he expected when he set out on his journey. His return home stirs up a lot of old memories, some of them dark and bitter, some light and happy, some better left in the past, and some forgotten altogether.

Yet as the family gathers to celebrate Lex's birthday, the slow process of healing begins to take place. And not only for Lex. Moving portraits of the family members flow from Wooten's mind like quicksilver, drawing in the reader with a skill that only a seasoned storyteller like he can possess. As the "ordinary family" wends its way toward the novel's conclusion, their lives will come full circle.

Sit down and have a slice of Birthday Pie. It's recommended reading from one of today's most talented scribes.