Book
Bothering America
A direct look at identity, leadership, and the cultural tensions shaping modern American life.
Book Summary
In this installment's detailed plan, Constance Wetherby sends Alistair and Margaret to the United States on a civic listening tour after Westminster. They arrive in performance-heavy rooms, then deliberately move toward community spaces where life is less polished and more honest.
The chapter spine follows a pantry, school room, funeral kitchen, union hall, border crossing with Daniel nearby in Toronto, courthouse corridor, clinic waiting room, and rural volunteer fundraiser. Recurring figures like Lena Ortiz, Maya Lin, Rafael King, and Elaine Mercer make the American story a connected human network rather than a one-off tour.
At the national forum, Alistair refuses the scripted podium moment and returns to the first rooms to keep doing small, practical work. The epilogue returns home to tea and quiet continuity, insisting that belonging is built by repeated acts, not by performance.