A Vow of Disobedience (The Prevetts)

By Greg Venne

Will Prevett declares a dislike for his father, Steven Prevett. On the tramp during the Great Depression, Will has hopped a few freight trains, but he does not complain about the hard work in the wheat fields of Wyoming or the logging camps in Northern Minnesota. The tale he tells to his fellow travelers in a boxcar exposes his own doubts about sin and the Catholic religion of his family. Steven Prevett pays scant attention to his wife, appears indifferent to his four children, and ignores work when it stands right in front of him. What he does do is mind the business of everyone else in the little town of Twin Pines, Wisconsin. One bit of business involves a doctor new to town who performs an abortion. The young doctor does not hide the procedure, not from the town and not from the religious leaders of the local Catholic Church. In the view of the Church, the circumstances don't excuse the sin. Steven takes a different view, and in defending the young doctor, he includes Will in the struggle that follows. Will becomes a direct witness to sins of the flesh. Will asks his fellow travelers how anyone can reconcile the duplicity of a parish priest who simultaneously takes physical gratification with his housekeeper while he directs a campaign to punish the doctor he labels an "abortionists." Will asks how he can excuse his father's ambivalence to his mother yet admire and appreciate the fight he executes to keep a competent doctor in a little town.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1793176760
• ISBN13: 9781793176769
• Release Date: January 2019
• Publisher: Independently published
• Length: 183 Pages
• Weight: 0.74 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.4" x 6.0"