Cheryl Murphy
The Story of Phillip Westover
The Story of Phillip Westover is a short story of historical fiction told through letters between Phillip and his mother Sarah. Although the story takes place over 100 years ago, the family faces many of the same issues we struggle with today.
Welcome-I am Cheryl Murphy, a Boston based author, artist, teacher and the former Director and founding member of the Menino Arts Center. Here you'll find my artwork, books and blog.
The story is expertly told with a fresh new voice. You feel the joy and sadness of the characters and understand and empathize with the struggles of Phillip and his family.
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Amazon 5 Star Review
I loved the story and was caught up in the struggles of this family. Unfortunately, biases that were prevalent then are still true today. Phillip would have had the same struggles today. Looking to read more from this author.
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Amazon 5 Star Review
Dearest One,
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To you who find yourself in possession of these letters, I am grateful that they have survived beyond me. It is my prayer that you are part of the Westover family tree; that you are the future, several generations, or perhaps even more, removed from myself, this time, and this place; and that these correspondences will resonate within you as part of your family history. In this box are the shattered pieces of a mother’s heart, bound together and wrapped in black ribbon. I have not the will to dispose of them nor the courage to read them again
They are all that remains of my beloved youngest son, Phillip. Without a consecrated grave that I might visit and tend to, I am left only his letters. They serve as testimony to him, his hopes and dreams, and all that he was. I pray that as you read them, you see how brightly he shone in his short lifetime and how unjust it was that his life and his spirit ended in ashes.
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