Literary Titan
“The Parables of Chance by John Nicholson tells the story of people living in a small town in the Midwest called Parables. The characters are seemingly separate from each other but tied together in ways they don’t see. Using the technique of an omnipresent narrator, Nicholson utilizes a play on words to examine a town growing and changing in ways the locals’ regret. The treatment of animals is the yardstick by which this society is measured. Abused and abandoned animals used to be unusual but are now becoming more common. As an old-timer, Sam laments, “The more this town grows, the farther it drifts from the values that made it such a great place.”
The main character around which most of the story revolves is a cat called Tabby. He is a pawn in a bitter split, beloved by Tony but given to Ruth in their divorce settlement. In a fit of misguided vengeance, Ruth abandons him. Tabby is then cruelly abused by a drunk called Rick and attacked by a wily street cat and then a fox; he is finally rescued by a kind-hearted student nurse, Lizzie, and she renames him Chance.
All the kind and terrible things the characters do or experience are tied somehow to Tabby/Chance and each other. A fistfight between Tony and Rick over the cat results in Olivia almost losing her baby. Unknown to Olivia, the nurse who treats her and gives her hope is the same woman who rescued Tabby.
The Parables of Chance is satisfying in that, unlike real life, in these “parables,” the bad guys get what’s coming to them, and the good guys get their “chance,” learn their lessons and find their happy endings. This novel is filled with suspense and drama that readers will be hooked into as they follow a mistreated tabby cat named Chance.”
Reader’s Choice Book Awards
“Voted ‘One of Minnesota’s Best Kept Secrets’, the small town of Parables was flooded with visitors in search of its beauty, charm and tranquility. But the very things that first attracted visitors to the town, soon became a long distant memory, as the town faced new challenges and social problems due to rapid urbanization. Tabby, a lifelong housecat, is abandoned in a remote woodland by his owner Ruth, following an acrimonious divorce. Tabby finds his way back to his old house, where he meets the new owner, Rick. Rick is drunk, abuses Tabby and chases him off the premises. Tabby tries to befriend other animals, but he is brutally attacked by a racoon, and then a fox. Left for dead following the fox attack, Tabby is found and rescued by Lizzie, who takes him to an animal hospital, adopts him and renames him Chance. At the same time, Ruth regrets her decision to abandon Tabby, and sets out to try and find him. She goes back to the house she shared with Tabby and her former husband, to see if he has returned there. She meets Rick, but he denies any knowledge of seeing the cat. As Tabby settles into his new home, and Ruth continues her search, the lives of several characters are intertwined as the circumstances of Tabby’s disappearance are revealed. Parables of Chance by John Nicholson is an interesting and unique novel about the decline in society, and the impact this has on humans and animals. The story is told through the experiences of animals, as they learn how to adapt in a rapidly changing environment and suffer as a result of moral decay. This is an interesting concept and a compelling read.”
