Mustard Seed (A Novel)

A redemption story of family, faith, and forgiveness in small-town Louisiana. 

After a lifetime of abuse and loss, sixty-one-year-old Vernon Davidson is ready to get back at God, his coworkers, and everyone else in his northern Louisiana hometown. To numb his pain, he drinks too much, and he shuns his friends and embarrasses himself in the community. The once-cautious Vernon has spiraled into a reckless mess.

When his brother becomes terminally ill, Vernon must track down his estranged nephew, Jody, in an effort to bring the younger man home to his dying father. Jody himself is struggling after a self-imposed exile—having fled his family for a new life thousands of miles away. As Vernon and Jody set off on their journey home, they find themselves on a path that takes them from loss to healing and will ultimately change their lives. 

Mustard Seed is a stirring portrait of small-town Louisiana men—grandfathers, fathers, sons, and brothers—that exposes their flaws while showcasing their inner strengths. It forms a doxology, a song of praise, for the male family bond and the emotional ties men hide from the world and each other. Ultimately, it examines an impossibly difficult question: After a man has faced countless tragedies and endless disappointments, how does he go about forgiving a God he has grown to despise—and find his way back to the bonds that sustain him?