GOLDEN SOUL

A debut novel focuses on one man’s turbulent life.

In this book’s opening pages, Tony Golden lies on the floor in the basement of the Sedona Heritage Museum in Arizona. His days on Earth may very well be coming to an end. But Tony has a choice. He can return to his body, which will undoubtedly be in pain, or he can remain on the “soul plane” if he feels he has already learned all of life’s lessons. Before a decision is made, Tony will review his Akashic Record. Readers are told that this record contains “all the thoughts and behaviors from each of our lives.” None of this is news to Tony, who is very much in tune with everything from lucid dreams to the different energies one can experience in Sedona. Tony grew up in Massachusetts. He was the only child of loving but conflicted parents. His father, Tony Sr., was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, among other issues. Tony Sr.’s highs would often make him the life of the party (sometimes with severe repercussions) while his lows could leave him incapacitated for days. Tony had his own experiences with mental illness, yet these provided material for his career as a high school psychology teacher. He was eventually drawn to Arizona not just for its beauty, but also for the way in which one might run into an empath while simply going to the grocery store. As Tony reviews all this and much more, he must decide what to do about his immediate future.

Tony’s life story is a detailed affair. Although information is provided on everything from how he chose which college to attend to the status of his adult children, Walsh’s narrative is at its best when tackling mental illness. Tony Sr.’s escapades are memorable, providing a realistic face to his condition. At one point, Tony relays how his father, during a manic phase, started buying drinks for strangers at a hotel in Florida. This act made him some new friends. It also resulted in debilitating depression and some $50,000 of credit card debt. Readers will come away with new ways of looking at the friendly patron at the bar who wants to put everything on his tab or the man who invites as many people as possible to his son’s high school graduation party (and keeps the party going even after the police order him to stop). Other aspects of the book are not quite as stimulating. Tony describes a fair share of uneventful occasions. There’s the time when he and others ate salmon at a restaurant and “raved about its flavor.” There is a brief summation of moviemaking in Sedona. Such instances read more like a bland travelogue than a nuanced look at a man’s life and his relation to “the spirit of the universe.” Nevertheless, Tony has a great deal of valuable reflections to share from his myriad adventures.

Despite some dry parts, this tale leaves readers with intriguing life lessons to consider.