Face Value: A Novel

This may be one of those stories about vanity, betrayal, manipulation and self-destruction as it exposes the battle between image and self, soul and ego, or want and need. All encompass the change that is brought on Brigham Walcott whose prestigious upbringing equips him with the looks, the charms and the talent that attracts the affection of most. In his search for more, his Sturm und Drang years take him away from his childhood friends Wyler and Caggie and his anti-alcoholic mother, into the welcoming arms of many. When he returns from his adventures in Bahrain he reconnects with his friends in unequal shares, slipping into a love affair with one only to evoke jealousy in the other.
Being left with irreparable alternations to his face after an accident, the reader is invited to enter Brigham’s thoughts, his memories and his perceptions before he regains consciousness and is forced to establish a new identity. He remembers his Cambridge ally Terri fondly and compares her wit and calm nature with Caggie’s sassy and strong personality and Wyler’s intellectual superiority. Although Terri finds disapproval from his friends, he has a soft spot for her. She is the one that introduces Brigham to an audio version of Edith Wharton’s ‘The Age of Innocence’ in the hope that it would reach him during his recovery.
Once he is released from hospital, Brigham’s obsession with finding the truth behind his accident becomes secondary to realising how much a face can change a life. The new Brigham faces rejection and betrayal, losing his fiancée Caggie to his best friend Wyler, his self-esteem to self-destruction and his mother’s questionable support to her decision to distance herself.
When he comforts himself with self-pity, self-medicated isolation and a hooker, he finally arrives at a place he never thought he would find: rock bottom. Between resignation and defeat, an old school mate challenges him back into life where he redefines himself as the new Brigham, less self-assured, less vain, less perfect but closer than ever to what he sees as his truth. Finding the old audio book Terri gave him and the courage to contact her out of the blue lead to a rekindling of a connection he almost condemned in the midst of all his disappointments. This may just be the story of sight and hindsight that makes a man evaluate his trust. After losing his face, his fiancée, his friend and his will to live, he realises that the fear of losing his happiness was what lost him what he had, only to find a happiness he never knew he could have.