Paradise Redeemed

A young critical care physician returns to his New York City apartment at the height of the pandemic after another grueling day trying, mostly in vain, to save COVID patients on ventilators—only to find his wife of just six months has vanished leaving behind her cellphone, purse, and passport.

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"The Nature of Love" was first published in "American Psychology" in 1958. It details Harry Harlow's controversial experiments separating baby rhesus monkeys from their mothers, isolating them, and providing two surrogate "mother": one, a wire mother with a milk bottle; the other a cloth mother. The experiments, while cruel, provided incontrovertible proof that love and affection are vital for normal childhood development. Deprivation caused long-term psychological and emotional distress and even death.

In many ways, the COVID pandemic is a Harry Harlow experiment writ large using human subjects rather than monkeys.

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PARADISE REDEEMED is a novel about the indomitable human spirit.

"Paradise Redeemed" is the second novel by Thomas Reardon. The first was the highly acclaimed Mending Wall. The author has had an eclectic career such as senior partner in a major law firm and Chief Executive Officer of numerous health care organizations. He was also a managing member of an investment group focused on tax exempt bonds. He also was a faculty member of a renowned school of public health. He has authored many articles and a non-fiction book on health care.

He is an angel investor for promising start-ups that he felt could make a difference in people's lives. He has always been happiest when doing something productive, whether building a company or dry-stone wall. He never lost sight of his humble roots and connection with "those left behind," recognizing that human relationships are at the very core of all that matters in this world, whether marriage, family, business, or country. He lives with his wife, Anne, on a horse farm with their canine companions.