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Promises and Secrets

The Meanderings of Andrew Banks Townsend

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Promises and Secrets

By: Steven L. Hostetler
Narrated by: Kevin Meyer
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About this listen

Songwriter turned lawyer and author, Andrew Banks Townsend, recounts the events of his youth that led him to important lessons about race, acceptance and overcoming adversity. Much of his journey involved learning from the experiences of his grandparents and others of his grandparents' generation. Andrew's life reminds how seemingly unrelated historical events continue to ripple through ensuing generations in unexpected and sometimes mysterious ways.

A work of historical fiction, Promises and Secrets tells in memoir-like fashion the story of a young boy with a disability growing up in the Midwestern United States in the 1960’s, who becomes a touring musician and hit songwriter in the late 1970’s, and ultimately a successful lawyer in the 1980’s. All the while, the journey is never his alone, as he walks beside and learns from those who survived the Great Depression and World War II. Their stories become inexorably intertwined with his, as together they finally find peace.

©2024 Steven Hostetler (P)2025 Steven Hostetler Coming of Age Genre Fiction
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I loved the Kindle version of this book so much that I also added it to my Audible library and I'm glad I did. It's definitely a keeper that I'll want to read and listen to over again because it's not only a wonderful tale but also offers some important life lessons in human kindness that all of us could use a reminder of from time to time. Steve Hostetler is a consummate storyteller who brings a wide range of characters to life while seamlessly taking you back and forth to different eras from the 1920s through to the present day. It's an easy, gentle read and beautifully written, thought-provoking and completely absorbing. It's also a fascinating insight into racial and religious culture and history in smalltown America. Five stars from me and I'll be looking out for his next book.

So good I bought it twice!

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