-
Submitted photo – John Neil Sherouse Jr. holds his book, “Like a Hole in the Water,” a historical fiction novel he wrote to honor Palatka, his hometown.
It seems natural for a writer-turned-author who spent his childhood growing up in Palatka and who has ancestral roots in Putnam County dating back to the early 1800s to want to write about it.
John Neil Sherouse Jr., who goes by Neil, is the author of “Like a Hole in the Water,” which takes place in Palatka.
The book’s storyline spans the 1960s to the early 1980s and centers on the lives of two boys, Clint and Sam, who form a remarkable bond that transcends time and circumstance, according to a news release from Sherouse.
“I’ve always thought my childhood in Palatka was idyllic,” he said. “At the same time, I came of age in a very turbulent period in our nation’s history characterized by significant strains on our cultural fabric.”
Sherouse said he wanted to cast a light on that period and on the ways everyone has both succeeded and failed at becoming better people.
“This book is historical fiction,” said Sherouse, 73. “The characters and storyline are fictional, the setting and the historical context are as true to facts as I could write them. My editor happens to hold a Ph.D. in Southern history, so I needed to be accurate.”
Jane Thomas Crawford, retired high school English teacher and former Putnam County School Board member, said she thoroughly enjoyed reading the book.
“It felt so familiar to me,” she said. “The places in the book were very recognizable, and I almost felt like I was growing up myself when reading the book. The character development and plot are well-developed, which lends to the enjoyment of the book. Nostalgia abounds when reading this sweet coming-of-age story.”
Sherouse will be featured in a book signing at 6 p.m. Friday at Needful Things, 908 St. Johns Ave. in Palatka. The public is invited.
According to Sherouse, the book sees the main characters navigating adolescence and the convulsive events of the 1960s and 1970s, including the Cold War, the civil rights movement, a series of political assassinations and the early days of the Vietnam War.
“When Sam dies suddenly in what appears to be a tragic accident, Clint is left drifting through the balance of his youth,” he said. “Later, after Clint has returned to Palatka and opened his fledgling law practice, information surfaces suggesting his friend’s death was something other than an accident. This shattering news propels him on a quest for truth and along a path leading to redemption.”
Sherouse, who graduated in 1969 from Palatka Senior High School, is looking forward to coming home to Palatka for the book signing.
“I’m seldom able to come back to Palatka so I’m looking forward to seeing a few old friends and walking on Lemon Street, now known as St. Johns Avenue,” he said.
The book is available in all five Putnam County Library System branches and sells as softcover and Kindle editions with a hardcover edition slated for release this spring. The book is also available at Needful Things and on Amazon for $14.99. The Kindle price is $4.99. Books at the signing will be $14.
Sherouse wrote his first novel, “The Burden of Evil Times,” which was published in 2023 and is set in a small fictional town on the east shore of the St. Johns River, even venturing into Palatka on occasion. The book is currently out of print but will be rereleased in a new edition concurrent with the sequel on which he’s currently working. The author has also begun to outline a prequel to “Like a Hole in the Water.”
Sherouse, who says he has always enjoyed writing, reflects on his latest book, saying it took him about 20 years for the novel to marinate in his mind.
“When my professional life entered a new and far less time-consuming phase, I took the opportunity to finally get that first book on paper,” he said. “It took another 20 years to get ‘Like a Hole in the Water’ written. I seem to be on a roll now and hope to have the sequel to my first book in print before the end of this year.”
Sherouse is semi-retired and working part time with an architect friend. Prior to his retirement in 2015, he worked for nine years in commercial property development, building and managing small commercial properties. He also worked for about 20 years in church music.
Sherouse hopes readers, especially those younger than his Baby Boomer generation, will come to understand the unique slice of history in which the book takes place and realize the challenges the nation confronted in the past in many ways remain today.
“Yes, technology has advanced in quantum leaps,” he said. “But we are still very much the same people, facing these same challenges and, in terms of fulfilling the social contract to which most of us ascribe, we have a long way to go.”
