A Cross Estate

By William Thomas Kinsella

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1424166888
• ISBN13: 9781424166886
• Release Date: June 2007
• Publisher: PublishAmerica
• Length: 259 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Full of compassion; a story of emotional survival

Jack Conroy is living life on his terms. Being the only child of Alexander and Catherine is a challenge at times, but the mutual love is always there. Jack is competitive in everything he tries and he loves to succeed. His Wall Street job after graduating from Duke University has him conflicted. Jack is torn between following in his father's footsteps and his own passion for landscape design. Moving away from Veronica is difficult, but the couple agrees their relationship can work while Veronica finishes college and Jack pursues Wall Street knowing that once he succeeds there, he can pursue the life he truly wants. After all, they have all the time in the world. William Kinsella uses his personal experience of losing some of his fellow commuters on 9/11 to create an intense story of true love, compassion, and the struggle to go on after the loss of a loved one. He brings the reader into the hearts of people directly effected by the tragedy. Compelled to write this novel for "everyone who never made it home," Kinsella has produced an emotional and historical work of fiction filled with hope. Kinsella, a husband and father of two, commuted daily into the city to his offices in Lower Manhattan. He was there when the towers fell. He hopes 'A Cross Estate' keeps the spirits of those who died, alive. He lives in Basking Ridge, NJ and is currently working on a personal memoir. William Thomas Kinsella has written an amazing first novel. The strength of each character's voice keeps the reader turning the pages. It is a thoughtful and powerful highly recommended read. Reviewer: Lisa Haselton, Allbooks Reviews.

Story of an emotional journey

This is not another 9/11 account, but rather an story of a family's journey through pain and grief, using the event as the catalyst. The characters are richly drawn and wholly believable, and almost everyone will find someone here to whom they can relate. Kinsella is a beautiful writer. There are many passages of pure poetry as he tells of feelings, places and moments of simple observation. The depiction of Catherine's emotional ride through her grief are particularly moving and dead-on. In the end, this is not a book of sadness, but one that is uplifting and affirming of the resilient nature of the human spirit.

From Unexpected Darkness Comes a New Light ...

William Thomas Kinsella presents a spiritual and psychological journey of hope, loss, coping, and eventual recovery related to the tragic events of September 11, 2001. This book leaves a striking impact on the reader. It starts out slowly, then builds momentum, traveling painful pathways leading to the main road called recovery. The author introduces the reader to Jack Conroy, a young man in his early twenties with a bright future ahead of him. He graduated from Duke University with a newly minted MBA degree and faces a dichotomy of two different lifepaths ... He must make a difficult decision - whether to meet his parents expectations of working on Wall Street or that of becoming a partner in the Durham Nursery, a successful and expanding landscaping business where he worked while attending the University. The book contrasts his upper class upbringing with that of his girlfriend and fiance, Veronica Cashmiris. Veronica's parents have working class ethnic roots: her mother is of Italian descent and her father Lebanese. She is a premed student and the first in her family to attend college. The author creates believable characters who are well fleshed out and who face realistic life conflicts. After meeting Jack's mother for the first time, Veronica senses the class differences which set them apart ... Jack has a passion for gardening and plants and his mother believes his desire to live near Veronica may unduly influence him into a career beneath him. His parents had high hopes for Jack to achieve great success on Wall Street. They expected him to follow in his father's footsteps and to surpass his achievements in business. The Conroys seem to view Veronica as a college romance that might fade with time ... Little do they realize the magical quality of the love between Jack and Veronica whose relationship blossomed gradually into something solid and real. Jack had procrastinated making a decision about his life career, even delaying his response for an interview with the Wall Street firm of Sanders Brown. As it turned out, an unexpected intervention occurred on his behalf. Jack followed the career path for which he had been educated which placed him in New York in the south Tower during the tragic events of September 11th. It changed the lives of those who loved him forever. The second half of the book is filled with the emotional impact of how Veronica and the Conroys cope with the events of Jack's death. The description of the emotional devastation of those who loved Jack is particularly well written. The author does a phenomenal job of relaying details which tie together the lives of these two very different families. They grieve separately and apart ... until Veronica's mother urges her to contact the Conroys for a very special reason. The Conroys are introduced to an unexpected gift of life ... Jack's son. The story is so well written it feels real. The author combines many elements to make it seem so. The author provides highly effective

Riveting Fiction Based Upon a Story That Could Have Been

When individuals begin reading A Cross Estate by William Thomas Kinsella, they will see that his artistic description and writing ability tells a potent, moving story in an unforgettable way. Whether describing beautiful geographical terrain, a young man's uncertainty about his career, a family who seems to have forgotten what is truly important in life, a relationship between a young man and woman that defines the true meaning of love, the inner turmoil and unforeseen consequences of choices, the all-consuming competitive desire to be the best in every aspect of life, and the horrific events and aftermath of September 11, readers will keep their eyes glued to the pages of this book from the beginning to the end. Though a book of fiction in regard to the characters, it is, in a very real sense, a true story about individuals we could have known and loved. Jack Conroy, a newly graduate of Duke University, is at the crossroads of his life. Because he has an extremely competitive nature and a strong desire to succeed in the business world, he had thought that his life's work would be working on Wall street, becoming even more successful than his father who had also made this his life's work. This is what his parents wanted and what he had prepared for all his life. However, since the companies on Wall Street hadn't been responding to his inquiries, he felt the need for a contingency plan. He decided to apply for summer work at Durham Nursery where he had worked part-time throughout his college years. Jack was surprised when his boss told him that the summer jobs had been filled but that he had another permanent opening for him working with landscape designs; he knew and respected Jack's talent in this area. The idea was appealing to Jack who loved the outdoors, and he promised to consider the offer. It would be quite different from being a stockbroker in New York, but the thought festered within his heart--a heart that he had given to Veronica whom he met when she was a freshman at Duke and he a sophomore. Overall, he had enjoyed his experience at Duke, proving himself to be a competitive All-Conference swimmer and graduating Magna Cum Laude. These accomplishments had definitely proven that a doctor from his past was mistaken when he tried to convince Jack's parents that their son would need specialized education all his life. The report, though wrong, still stirred anger within Jack and had only served to inspire him to become a "winner." And he was--in every way! Jack's very wealthy parents lived in Claremont Hills, New Jersey, having climbed the social ladder of success. Catherine and Alexander Conroy doted over their son--he was the miracle baby that they had almost given up on ever having. They wanted the best for him--the best as they perceived it to be. Neither one of them were particularly fond of Veronica, hoping she was someone who would soon be a forgotten memory. But that wasn't to be. Jack and Veronica lived for one

A Compelling Story

On September 11th, 2001, the lives of the people of New York and America were forever changed. As the twin towers collapsed, a wave of horror swept throughout the world. For the families and loved ones of the victims, the nightmare would not end on that day. Working in Lower Manhattan on 9/11, author William Kinsella experienced the results of the tragedy. In his novel, A Cross Estate, Kinsella shares a fictional story of how one victim's family and loved ones endured the devastating aftermath of that day. As a recent graduate from Duke University, Jack Conroy, a bright, spiritual, and compassionate young man, is faced with a difficult life choice. He must choose between following in his father's footsteps and embark on a career on Wall Street, or, work as a Landscape Designer in Durham. Jack, passionate and feeling a spiritual connection with nature, is drawn to the nursery job as it would keep him closer to his girlfriend Veronica. Jack, deeply in love with Veronica, finds himself in a situation he did not imagine as a young boy dreaming of working on Wall Street. With the advice of his family and Veronica, Jack attends a job interview. At the interview, he starts to remember the reasons why he always wanted to work on Wall Street. He accepts the job and begins working for a company in the South Twin Tower. On 9/11, the death of Jack brings the lives of his family and Veronica to a standstill. From here, the story enters the lives of Jack's loved ones. Jack's mother, father, and Veronica, each undergo a painful struggle to deal with the loss. The reader is taken into their journey of hopelessness, pain, grief, depression, and losing the will to live. Only in the journey to their deepest and darkest feelings are they able to find the light. The journey of Jack's loved ones is an emotional and painful one where nature with its remarkable beauty is entwined with such themes as birth, death, and rebirth. A Cross Estate is an emotional story of survival and finding peace amid a terrible tragedy. With a well-detailed depiction of setting and nature, William Kinsella delivers a story of hope from a terrible event that affected the loved ones of one special young man lost on that fateful day. I highly recommend the book to readers who enjoy powerful stories of love, loss, forgiveness, and redemption. Tracy Roberts, Write Field Services