Marching in a parade among the Knights of Columbus may look like evidence of Frank DioGuardia’s devotion to Catholicism, but he is a man who harbors conflicting views on the Church, his relationship with God, and life in general. When a test of faith, or perhaps loyalty arises, Frank commits a violent act in order to save a Cardinal. Hailed a hero and nicknamed ‘God’s Guardian’, Frank contends that he was acting purely on impulse, nothing more. That single decision brings everything in his life into sharp relief as he is thrust into the spotlight and then scrutinized from every angle. The problem with spotlights, though, is that they tend to leave a lot of dark corners where tamped down negative feelings can fester and grow. A significant aspect of the plot revolves around the bottomless sorrow that Frank shares with a spunky, yet guarded doctor. However, buried secrets, personal agendas, and discovering one’s purpose seem to be the real drivers of this contemporary literary fiction book.
Shared Sorrows is a distinctive novel that begins as an emotional journey of an aging man, but tightens into a lightly suspenseful thriller featuring a conventional villain as a convenient target. There are more than a few surprises along the roadway as Frank’s life course turns in directions he never asked for. While the plot is compelling, exploiting readers’ emotions in a personal and ethical way, it may be a struggle to relate to a cast of generally unpleasant characters. Frank is brash, opinionated, and not open to other viewpoints, and at the same time he lacks the charisma to pull off an affable curmudgeon-persona. But his polarizing temperament is balanced out by a story that will certainly strike a match under anyone’s sense of justice. Told with a voice that is unique to Vincent Panettiere, Shared Sorrows is both painful and restorative.
