The second half of the novel, "The Timepiece" by Richard Paul Evans was very shocking. After reading the first half and having the main character get married, I thought that the birth of their daughter would bring them both pleasure and happiness. Their daughter, Andrea, was their pride and joy, until she was killed. I never expected the death of their daughter. Even after the fire, I thought that she would live.
The events leading up to Andrea's death were extraordinary. One of Lawrence's customers died, and left him a beautiful rose pocket watch. The enraged nephew of this customer came to Lawrence's house with a gun and threatened to shoot if he didn't give the watch to him. When the drunk nephew became violent, Lawrence shot and killed him out of self-defense. David happened to arrive at the shop moments before the police, and he took the blame for Lawrence because he was aware that a black man would be sentenced to many years in prison or killed for committing such a crime. News that David killed the man spread, and soon, David was receiving threats from friends of the nephew. These friends eventually set fire to David's home, and his daughter died as a result of the third degree burns she received.
Now that I look back on earlier parts of the book, this event was slightly foreshadowed. David said that "the only promise of childhood is that it will end. And when it is gone, it is gone." David of course meant that childhood disappears when a child matures into a teen and eventually an adult. Unfortunately, Andrea's childhood ended prematurely and not because she was growing up. Further more, once she was gone, there was no way to bring her back.
Shortly after Andrea was buried, Lawrence decided that he wanted to give the angel to her grave. "Wha's the use havin' people thinkin' I was somethin' important. If I'm in heaven, it won't matter much, angels all ‘bout and such . . . If I'm just cold dead I won' know no difference . . . That Andrea, now she's somethin' pure. A child should have an angel." I thought this was an extremely noble decision for Lawrence to make. He thought of the deceased child, instead of himself, and in turn, produced some happiness from David and his wife.
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