The Wellbaby

By Zack Grenville

The Wellbaby mixes comedy, drama, sex, violence, political satire, racial tension and southwestern folklore to tell a tale of ordinary people struggling to capture their share of the American dream in a small town at the end of the Reagan era. In 1971, ten-month-old Amanda Prahl fell down a well in the rural oil-town of Iron Lake, Oklahoma. Her life-or-death ordeal captured the attention of millions of Americans who remained riveted to their TV screens until the baby was finally rescued by Floyd Smoll, a 21-year-old laborer and volunteer fireman. Yet, in spite of the event's miraculous outcome, its protagonists did not live happily ever after. Flash forward to 1988, when the novel begins. Over the intervening years, Amanda has lost her father parent and suffered in foster care after being abandoned by her alcoholic mother. She now lives alone her parents' trailer home and works as a waitress at a local diner by day and carouses with bikers and other transients at night. Meanwhile, Floyd has lost his wife and young daughter to another man and finds consolation only in drinking and in his job at the Trailblazer Apparel Company, the town's largest employer. The Wellbaby begins on Amanda's 18th birthday, as she prepares to withdraw her Trust fund money and leave town forever. Little does she know that her dreams are about to be shattered in a series of events that will affect the entire town, including Floyd Smoll. The story chronicles a ten-month period during which Amanda, Floyd and other Iron Lake residents struggle to make their own miracles in a nation that has left them languishing in the dust.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1489558713
• ISBN13: 9781489558718
• Release Date: April 2013
• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• Length: 408 Pages
• Weight: 1.53 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 1.0" x 6.0"