Return of the Lost Son

A son searches for his father, only to grow uncomfortable—and even miserable—with what he exhumes. Where, he asks, are the limits of forgiveness? Is failure a badge of honor? Are we free to share the secrets of the dead? In Return of the Lost Son, a vivid, tightly paced memoir, Christopher Gonzales attempts to understand a man who, due to early-onset Alzheimer’s, was unable to share his own memories.

At the outset of his exploration, Gonzales hopes to discover a benevolent father figure, someone he could imagine guiding him through the difficult terrain of life. Instead, he is met with shadowy fragments of his father’s habits—drinking, womanizing, and aloofness—as well as a hidden marriage, which all force Gonzales to acknowledge that he might never uncover the angel he hoped to find. Constructed with clear-eyed prose and abounding with colorful travel stories, wending inner journeys, and psychological intricacies, Return of the Lost Son emerges from a committed project of asking and listening, recovering memory and community, and ultimately, healing.