What Fools We Have Been by Hank Williams
What Fools We Have Been
by Hank Williams
Morecambe Bay, Lancashire: After his father’s death, a son clears out his parents’ house. When he finds a series of haunting photographs of Morecambe Bay, taken by his father towards the end of his life, it sparks a journey through the scattered memories and broken connections of five generations of family history.
Flowing from the vibrant post-war Jewish community of London's east end, to the quiet suburban streets of Stanmore, and back to the Lancashire coast, the story cascades down through each generation’s shifting perspective. A wife appeases her charismatic yet destructive husband; a son reimagines the jigsaw of his mother’s life; a granddaughter tries to heal the traumas of the past.
What Fools We Have Been is an exploration of memory, identity, and the trail of damage left in the wake of wartime trauma. It asks: What is it that makes us who we are? Is it possible to repair the wreckage of the past?
My Thoughts
This is such a beautiful and thought provoking book on many levels and I am sure that , like me , you will definitely take something special away from it after you have finished the story.
This poignant story is told from each of the characters perspectives and you really feel that you are in that privileged position of being an onlooker who is fortunate enough to be able to look at the relationships from everyone’s starting point.
To say this is a clever book is an understatement , however, that is what it is and it is a book that all of us ought to read and if necessary rectify our own lives before it is too late.
I think one aspect that surprised me is that at first glance it is only a short novel, one hundred and thirty nine pages, but you come away feeling that you have read a far larger book due to how much hank actually packs into it by keeping the chapters for each character short and linking them in a variety of different ways . You will find yourself thinking you have got the gist of one character from one chapter only to have it changed when seen from another perspective.
Like I said very clever, beautifully written and definitely one to read.
About Hank
Hank Williams started his career as a stage director in the mid '70s. He then worked as a community artist and community development worker before becoming a management development consultant. For the past fifteen years he has worked in the Higher Education sector, mentoring senior leaders in UK universities as well as leading change programmes in Afghanistan and Bangladesh. He retired in 2026.
Hank wrote a screenplay in the 80s that won a commendation in a Sunday Times/BFI national competition. He has published three books relating to management development. His first novel - WHAT FOOLS WE HAVE BEEN - was published by Chiselbury Press in March 2026, just before his 70th birthday. Hank lives on the edge of Morecambe Bay. He has two step-sons and three granddaughters.
Follow Hank Williams
https://www.linkedin.com/in/hank-williams-ba3b4352/
@chiselbury.
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