Excerpted from the unpublished novel: GOLIATH’S GATE

Introduction

The Year: 1954

The Setting: Clayton’s Landing, a small New Hampshire town built on, and divided by, a tributary of the Connecticut River. Clayton to the North is inhabited by the well-to-do. The Landing, across the bridge to the South is where the factory workers and less privileged reside.

Situation: Jason Whitman’s dad, Hanroy Whitman was once Clayton’s Landing’s most eligible young man and stood to inherit his father’s business, the Whitman Tool Company. But his lack of interest in what was, at the time, a failing concern led his father to sell the company to out-of-towner, Aaron Miller from Boston. Even though old Mr. Whitman split the proceeds from the sale with his son, when World War II broke out and the factory started to flourish, Hanroy began resenting his father’s decision. He blamed him for selling his birthright to a Jew, became a heavy drinker, and began squandering his share of the money from factory sale.

Today: Fifteen years have passed since the factory was sold, and Hanroy’s son Jason, is ten years old. It is his birthday.