Bruce Bracken publishes new novel
Professor Bruce Bracken has recently published a novel, entitled Invisible, which was published through Coventry House Publishing and is available in both traditional and electronic formats. When writing his second work of fiction, Dr. Bracken very much wanted his main character to be seen and heard. Dr. Bracken said “his intended literary contribution for this novel is to bring into focus and give voice to a portion of society that seamlessly coexists unnoticed within all contextual backdrops, including an Albuquerque barrio. Invisibles ask little from life – to be loved and appreciated by just a few people; not a great deal, but such simple dreams are often out of reach for those who go about their daily lives largely unseen. The protagonist, Campbell Hayden, an invisible discontent with such a limited life, seeks to become visible and live life to the fullest.” “Invisible”, Dr. Bracken continued, “is a sensitive coming of age story that weaves love and loss within a unique population – a population that we all have felt a part of sometime during our lives. As such, Campbell Hayden represents an 'Everyman' with whom readers can readily identify.”
Dr. Bracken further expressed that his works of fiction promote healthy psychosocial themes; and his next and yet to be published novel, Achilles, too fits that mode as a redemptive personal conversion story.
The back cover description of Invisible:
A depressed Campbell Hayden nurses a few ales in a Sackets Harbor pub ten miles out of Watertown, New York. After last call, the twenty-nine-year-old leaves the bar and disappears into a whiteout blowing off Lake Ontario. Ending up in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Campbell starts a new life in a multi-hued barrio where a person can live comfortably unnoticed. Campbell settles in quickly, having spent an entire life as an invisible – “It’s not that people can’t see me,” Campbell reveals, “mostly they just don’t…While it is human nature to want to shine, or to prostrate or prostitute oneself in order to achieve notice, or even to garner a glimmer of envy in the eyes of family or friends, I’ve accepted that such self-illuminating strivings, at least for me, are folly. I am invisible.”
Campbell’s otherwise ascetic life in the barrio is dramatically transformed by several precipitous incidents. In response to these affronts, Campbell devises a plan to become visible, and accepts that substantial physical, emotional, and interpersonal life-style changes will be necessary in order to be seen. Along with these personal sacrifices, Campbell bravely disregards the dangers of standing out in full view. As a stunning, larger-than-life visible, Campbell forges true love, but also creates mortal enemies. Campbell’s newfound visibility, love, and enemies cannot coexist – the question is who will survive?
