Dianne's Reviews > 337

Imagine growing up in a dysfunctional family with no control over the toxic environment, your mother vanishing without a trace and believed murdered by your father, who is subsequently incarcerated, and expected to visit a dying relative with whom you have been estranged for numerous years. 337 is a story of how Samuel “Sam” Darte is struggling as an adult to overcome the problems and pain from these traumatic events that plague him in the hope of gaining freedom from guilt, anger, and distress and improve his quality of life. Sam is obsessed with finding out what happened to his mother and why she abandoned her two sons, Sam and his younger brother Tom, who was also deeply and negatively affected by their mother’s disappearance.

M. Jonathan Lee has written a heartfelt story not only of the gap left behind by family members who have caused significant emotional suffering and mental agony to their relatives but also movingly depicts the trauma one undergoes when a next of kin is dying. Anyone who has spent time with family members who are facing impending death will be impacted by the accurate and heartbreaking portrayal of the distressing experience that a person goes through in watching a loved one rapidly deteriorate, especially when the person may appear as if their condition has taken a positive step only to regress even further in their days left to live.

Lee’s use of writing with imagery is vibrant and gripping and captures moments that will stay with the reader long after finishing the story. Some profanity is included in the story, and it fits the scenes and characters. There is a mistake in the Table of Contents in relation to the omission of a chapter, which is included in the story. 337 is a book well worth reading for the realistic portrayal of difficult life challenges individuals can face, and the impact those complications have on a person's outlook on life in the long-term.