Walter Bowen Fixes Things

A sixty-six-year-old retired woodworking teacher whose wife left him for loving his workshop more than anything alive gets his solitary retirement upended by a fifteen-year-old burglar. Rather than call the cops, Hank Bowen strikes a deal: thirty hours of unpaid shop labor. What follows is a series of spectacular disasters involving ruined lumber, nearly severed thumbs, and arguments loud enough to rattle the neighborhood. But when real danger shows up at the garage door, Hank discovers that fixing broken furniture is easier than fixing broken lives—and that both are worth the trouble.