The Big Door Prize

instead of greeting Douglas with a hug at the door, wiped at her eyes with the undersides of her wrists. She then leaned heavily against their blue-and-white countertop, which was covered in flipped-open magazines. Beside her, a pot of water boiled quietly on the stove. Near the sink, a box of macaroni and cheese stood unopened. Next to that, Douglas knew, because the day was Wednesday, two hamburger patties sizzled over low, greasy heat in the skillet.

 

Douglas said nothing. He instead removed the blazer he had draped over his arm and placed it on a chair, hung his keys on a hook screwed into the wall for that purpose. He then took off his hat, a brown woolen beret he'd taken to wearing since he bought the trombone, and arranged the wayward hairs on his balding head. He knew Cherilyn hadn't been feeling well. Some powerful headaches, lately, a dizzy spell or two. He'd been meaning to talk to her about this. The amount of aspirin bottles he'd found about the house, the antihistamine nose spray she'd taken to cupping in her palm those past mornings. The naps she took at odd hours. These are the minor changes to a marital landscape that can worry a thoughtful husband like Douglas. Yet he'd chalked most of it up to stress.

 

Cherilyn was busy of late in atypical ways. She'd signed up to sell her own handmade birdhouses at the Deerfield Bicentennial that weekend, would have her own booth on the square both Saturday and Sunday, and so had spent the past few months turning their home into a sort of avian sweatshop. There were probably a hundred of the little houses always in eyesight, each in some incomplete phase of construction, with not much time left before the event. That could make anyone nervous. Still, Douglas knew she enjoyed her crafts, had signed up for this booth herself, and so he did not press her.

 

There were other things it could be, of course, besides bird homes. The oncoming heat of a southern spring. The exhaustion from dealing with

peeking into various bars, cars, and bedroom windows, a twinkle in his eye as he brings some mischief to the lives within .These connections lie at the heart of The Big Door Prize, and what an enormous heart it is. Chapter 16

[A] surprising and heartwarming contemporary drama about looking back and looking forward Readers of this singular, nuanced story will, quite possibly and without a machine as prompt, undertake their own personal reflection. Shelf Awareness

[A] big-hearted and magical novel about fate, identity and the loyalties of a small town Combining the humor and heart of small-town cozy fiction with the poignancy of literary fiction and the drama of domestic suspense, M. O. Walsh proves once again that he is a writer who needs to live on your bookshelves. BookReporter

Walsh skirts the edge of fantasy in this playful and touching tale....The novel transcends its quirky premise, offering many insights on the mysteries of the human heart. Publishers Weekly (starred review)

It s hard to believe that Walsh wrote this moving novel long before the COVID-19 pandemic, for there is eerie prescience in its soulful message that gratitude and grace are not to be taken for granted and that life can be upended in an instant. Booklist (starred review)

"An eccentric, well-written small-town novel jam-packed with appealing characters and their dreams." Kirkus Reviews

The Big Door Prize calls attention to the ordinary, hard-won joys of real people. M. O. Walsh s second novel is a feel-good read in a down-home setting, with serious undertones. BookPage

Think of The Big Door Prize as a beautiful box full of all the things that compose our lives: love, fate, chance, jealousy, sadness, jokes, desire, and music. M.O. Walsh gives us all this and more, page after page, until we feel as if we know a little bit more about everything there is worth knowing. One of the most big-hearted books you ll ever read, about so much, but, in the end, really about the secret of life: the specifics of caring. Daniel Wallace, author of Extraordinary Adventures and Big Fish

"The lives of a couple facing their mid-life crisis and a young man coming of age intersect in this humorous and hopeful novel. M.O. Walsh has never been afraid to go down into the darkest places of the human heart, but his truthfulness is balanced by a beautiful optimism, just as his sharp humor is leavened by his genuine affection for the layered, vital characters he creates. A wise, wry, twisty, and entertaining tale. I loved it." Joshilyn Jackson, author of Never Have I Ever

"The characters in The Big Door Prize are familiar yet curious so much like my own neighbors that I began to weave myself into the story, considering other lives I might live if I were braver, pluckier. Walsh's novel is the ideal summer read, an immersive escape as well as a brilliant examination of free will vs. determinism." Mary Miller, author of Biloxi and Always Happy Hour

Part mystery, all charm. The big prize here is for readers: a heartwarming and eccentric page-turner in the grand tradition of Southern literature that will keep you wondering until the very end. Walsh writes his characters with great respect to prove we're never too old to discover new things about ourselves. Steven Rowley, author of The Editor and Lily and the Octopus