At once humorously serious, “Golden Cages- Illusion of Freedom”, is a moral story about some of the most important life lessons. It is a story of the unconditional love between a man and his mentor and how that love helped him grow and flourish despite the struggles presented by his estranged relationships, life patterns and programmed principles.

During a routine trip to the grocery store Ryan is taken aback when an old friend, Andrew, challenges him to make radical life changes. Ryan finds himself confronted with the fraught and terrifying depths of his unconscious mind and ego. Sharp and assured, his new teacher Francis, soon to be friend, hits him with a compelling honesty that flips his world upside-down.

Francis keeps throwing challenges at Ryan left, right, and centre. Ryan questions if Francis even knows what he is doing. Sometimes it honestly feels like he has gone too far. The concepts he throws out are just too much. Ultimately Ryan triumphs, even though he is on a journey of what feels like a thousand chances and confrontations alike. There are many possibilities for the future. No matter how many of them there are, there’s still just one gut-wrenching, unchangeable past.

Allegiances are broken, choices are made, and Ryan has no alternative than to pick between the two women he loves. His mother, Maria, ridiculously refuses to give up control. His wife, Clara, has surrendered under duress. Which wolf Ryan feeds will determine the outcome. Either way there are consequences and a destructive aftermath to deal with. Ryan gathers his courage and makes his move, knowing full well that he could lose it all in the process.

Ryan sticks with the counselling, despite his constant instinct to flee. He learns to let go of the heavy influences that shaped his current dysfunctional reality. The ghosts of the past come out to haunt him. This leads him to learn more about the family’s past and its generational traumas which undoubtedly have been inherited and are now being past down to his own children.

Francis has not divulged much information about himself, which unnerved Ryan from the start. He claimed to be an Indigenous American elder but doesn’t look much like one. Ryan is stunned and embarrassed about how he treated Francis in the beginning. Especially when Francis finally unveils the truth behind his childhood and how he became who he is today. Francis’ unorthodox methods and customs all make sense in the end.

Being flipped upside down proved to be what he needed after all. Ryan realizes that his whole life was one big lie. He is finished with hiding the truth about himself from other people. Francis teaches him how to show what his feelings truly are, while learning to man up at the same time. With his newfound skill of normalising difficult emotional experiences, Ryan finally understands the sanctity of the word honour. He makes a new plan with Andrew to help others. He has a new pattern and program to live by now and a different story to tell.

A tale about an ordinary man- an orphan! -an extraordinary can of Coke. This novel of stability vs. vulnerability is an absolute knockout– sure to render its reader conscious!

“Follow my lead and I’ll help you get lost.”

– Kimberley A. Doucette –