All shall be well ; and all shall be well ; and all manner of things shall be well

Dazzlingly inventive and utterly original, All Shall Be Well... is a surprise and a delight.Meet Burt Hecker, aka Eckbert Attquiet, a 63 year old medieval re-enactor with a momentous nose, who dresses in tunics and drinks too much home-made mead. His treasured wife Kitty has died and their strange and beautiful relationship is now the stuff of history; he has sold all of his possessions and bought a one-way ticket to Europe, bent on rescuing his beloved son Tristan from the "evil' city of Prague. If only he knew that his son doesn't want to be rescued, or found. Meet Burt Hecker: a mead-drinking, tunic-wearing medieval re-enactor from upstate New York. He prefers oat gruel to French fries because potatoes were unavailable in Europe before 1200 AD; and, at war with the modern world, he enjoys hosting large-scale re-enactments at the Victorian bed and breakfast he calls home.But Burt has some serious problems. After an incident involving the New York State police and an illegally borrowed car, Burt is forced to join a local music therapy workshop to manage his anger. He gallantly accompanies the group to Germany for a festival celebrating the music of the visionary saint Hildegard von Bingen--but he has no plan to return home. His real destination is Prague: he must find his estranged son Tristan, who, he believes, has lost his way in the Bohemian city.As we move between past and present, the tragic details of Burt's life are gradually revealed: the recent death of his beloved wife; the circumstances that separate him from his children; his complicated relationship with his mother-in-law. And we begin to understand, with heart-wrenching clarity, Burt's eccentric and poignant devotion to a time other than one's own.Wildly inventive and mesmerizing, Tod Wodicka's debut is a modern-day Arthurian quest that introduces one of the most winning oddball characters to come along in years.From the Hardcover edition. The story of Burt Hecker, a sixty-three-year-old medieval re-enactor (he dresses in medieval clothes, eats medieval food, thinks medieval thoughts), and his doomed attempt to come to terms with his own history. It is a novel about the different ways in which we perceive the past, and how none of them can ultimately add up to the present. Using the backdrop of the nine-hundredth birthday celebrations of St Hildegard von Bingen, Burt accompanies an anchorite-re-enacting female chant workshop from upstate New York to Rhineland, Germany, only to leave them behind and set off on a modern-day Arthurian quest to 'rescue' his estranged son, Tristan, from Prague. Jumping between times, continents and histories both real and re-enacted, we get to the desperate heart of Burt Hecker, widower and mead-addict, as his losses and crimes accumulate Meet Burt Hecker, Aka Eckbert Attquiet, A 63-year-old Medieval Re-enactor With A Momentous Nose, Who Dresses In Tunics And Drinks Too Much Home-made Mead. His Treasured Wife Kitty Has Died And Their Strange And Beautiful Relationship Is Now The Stuff Of History; He Has Sold All Of His Possessions And Bought A One-way Ticket To Europe, Bent On Rescuing His Beloved Son Tristan From The 'evil' City Of Prague. If Only He Knew That His Son Doesn't Want To Be Rescued, Or Found. This Is The Story Of Burt's Painful, Hilarious And Doomed Attempts To Come To Terms With His Own Past.