Granddaddy's Dirt

by Brian Egeston

A poignant writer produces yet another true storytelling, Brian Egeston has tackled a difficult issue and done so with a soothing pen. In this dramatic story sprinkled with snippets of humor, readers take a ride with a family, a flood, and a fate. Uncovered at last, are the dangers of generational burdens. On a lone desolate highway, one routine traffic stop becomes tragic. Andrew Scales, one of the most respected businessmen in town, wrestles with erasing the truth of that night. His virtuous wife, Virginia fights to expose it everyday. Although she threatens her husband and warns him of the detrimental consequences, her attempts are futile. Andrew, instead, decides to involve friends and family members in his elusive acts. No one is spared from the wrath of his dishonesty-not even his young innocent grandson, Kyle. Accusations of the tragedy elevate to physical confrontations in a church meeting room where Andrew again shifts the blame to another friend. Only this time it will cost someone's life. As Kyle grows older, the details of his grandfather's involvement in deceit, criminal activity, and dishonesty are difficult to accept because Andrew has always been his one true hero. Kyle's own life is now affected by his grandfather's dishonesty as the consequences Virginia predicted, start to unfold. Kyle begins a race to right his grandfather's wrongs before his family and future are washed away in the worst flood Albany, Georgia has witnessed in five hundred years. Carefully sculpted around actual occurrences of the great flood of 1994, Granddaddy's Dirt has arrived to take position on America's bookshelf as one of its newest classics.

304 pages, Paperback

First published October 13, 2000

Reviews

[Jason Oliver · Rating 3 out of 5]

The more I reflect on this book the less and less I like it. Its a 2.5 rating rounded up but I feel I might round it down.

This book takes places in Albany, Georgia, my home town, and the second half focuses on the major flood of 1994.

The first part of the story is wonderful. taking place in the 60s or 70s, the story focuses on race relations in the south. A white police officer is killed by a prominent black member of Albany and the murder is never solved.

20-30 years later, the grandson of the prominent black man, comes back to Albany and shortly after, the flood of '94 starts. This is the part of the story that is just awful. It moved much faster and parts were just ridiculous.

I did learn in more detail how the flood happened. The winds from Africa that later became a tropical storm in the gulf, that rained and flooded cities north of Albany, who then opened he 13 dams at Lake Blackshear and then those waters ran down the flint river, flooding Albany rapidly and unexpectedly.

The theme of the book is children and grandchildren having to answer for the covered sins of their ancestors.

I wanted so much more from this book.

[Sheila · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mr. Egeston wrote the fictional allegory in the third person in which he effectively wove together the dangers of generational burdens and sins and the effects on successive generations. He uses southern dialect and informal language to graphically illustrate the people and places in the text. Moreover, he used third person to symbolize the biblical notion of the flood and thereby the cleansing of the grandfather to the grandson. This is effective because the cleanse illustrates that the mother, Virginia, and the grandson, Kyle are finally free of the dirt caused by the grandfather. I would highly recommend this book to others because it directly correlates the fact that we should rid ourselves of burdens and problems over which we have control.

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

A flood story that leans on the storylines of the Great Flood, set in the South and written by a man capable of making you feel the humidity, smell the water and taste the lemonade. This story is about the sins of a grandfather setting a whole series of events in motion that will only end when his secrets are unearthed. This is one of the best books never read by anyone else I know.