Brian Pelton’s debut novel, None Wasted, None Spared, resonates with authenticity about a time in our nation’s history that forever changed its citizens. 

The glorious 1920s in Seattle were a vast contrast to what happened in the last year of that decade. 

October of 1929 destroyed the financial future of over 50 percent of the nation’s people and Philip Steadman, an honest, hardworking man, felt the brunt of unemployment as he struggled to hold down a job.  Meeting and marrying Vera was the bright spot in his dim future and the two believed they could overcome anything.   

But Vera, opposite in nature of her husband, loves the attention of other men.  Escaping her domineering father, she plays out her need for attention, real and imagined, and Philip suffers from her exaggerated sense of self-worth throughout their marriage.  Vera bears two boys, Jack and Rodney, who like their parents, are opposite in nature.  Their eldest son, Jack, becomes the neighborhood roughneck while Rodney is content to stay close to home.   

As the darkest days of the Depression settle over them, the Steadmans bring another family into their rental home to defray costs.  Their lives, constantly challenged by insufficient funds and worries about their children, leave them with little hope until an over-confident Australian expatriate, Jimmy Burns, shows up to offer them a way out.  Jimmy persuades the Steadmans and their friends to relocate to a small rural town to the northeast. 

Will this be their new beginning or the beginning of the end? 

Pelton’s novel has richly-textured characters that perfectly capture the mood of the era.  This impressive and immensely entertaining novel presents a shimmering portrait of a family’s struggle to survive through seemingly hopeless times.

About the Author

Brian Pelton is a writer and works in Business Intelligence for Boeing.  Mr. Pelton has written two screenplays and is currently writing the sequel to None Wasted, None Spared.  He lives with his wife on Whidley Island in Washington State.