Faster. Higher. Stronger. Smarter. Stone Hunnicut, a successful middle-aged lawyer, is haunted by his dead father’s Olympic-styled family motto. His younger brother, Ted, once a promising literary novelist, now is content to live with his lover at her North Woods arts commune. When Stone visits and discovers unpublished manuscripts in his brother’s trailer, he secretly attempts to get them published, escalating their sibling rivalry. Can their broken relationship be repaired?
Winner: Bronze Medal for Cover Design–Adult, 2025 CIPA EVVY™ Awards Book Competition
Reed (Free Spirits) delivers a heartwarming tale of second chances, focused on two middle-aged brothers and lifelong rivals. Stone Hunnicutt, a litigator in Madison, Wis., receives a letter from Harmony, the partner of his younger brother Ted, asking for $10,000 to renovate a historic home in her rural community, a hippie commune called Peace and Joy. Stone visits Ted, whom he hasn’t seen for 10 years, to determine if he should donate to the cause. There, Stone discovers that Ted, a former professor who has published one well-received novel and was their father’s favorite, is now living in poverty. While Ted is momentarily away, Stone finds a cache of his unpublished novels and steals the manuscripts. Moved by love for his brother and a desire to improve Ted’s life, Stone sets out to get the books published, drawing ire from Ted for invading his privacy. The feud escalates until Stone’s wife and Harmony try to get the brothers to make peace. The writing is a bit rough (a cherry placed on a napkin “bled brightly like fresh blood”), but Reed offers appealing insights on the relationship between art and life and generally sidesteps sentimentality in her portrayal of the brothers’ conflict. This has plenty of charm. —Publishers Weekly
Reed (author of Free Spirits) masterfully crafts Stone and Ted’s characters, presenting a stark contrast between the dutiful, successful lawyer and the once-promising novelist turned commune dweller. Keen insight into family dynamics shines throughout, as Reed unravels the impact of their father's Olympic-inspired motto—“Citius. Altius. Fortius, Scitius… Faster. Higher. Stronger. Smarter”—on the family’s lives and choices. Most compelling is Reed’s portrayal of the women in Stone and Ted’s lives, as they help the brothers confront and ultimately overcome the lasting effects of their father’s very conditional love, an exploration of healing and growth that adds a hopeful dimension to the novel. —Book Life
Reed’s principal characters are brilliant, thoughtful and funny. In masterful prose, these actors think, learn and joke their way through the complex mysteries and surprises of sibling love and rivalry. Even the above-average supporting cast has occasional cameos of wit, with plenty of tongue-in-cheek repartee. The dialogue is the story, so polished that I could almost see the actors on —Deborah Bornstein
by Mary Hutchings Reed
Faster. Higher. Stronger. Smarter. Stone Hunnicut, a successful middle-aged lawyer, is haunted by his dead father’s Olympic-styled family motto. His younger brother, Ted, once a promising literary novelist, now is content to live with his lover at her North Woods arts commune. When Stone visits and discovers unpublished manuscripts in his brother’s trailer, he secretly attempts to get them published, escalating their sibling rivalry. Can their broken relationship be repaired?
Winner: Bronze Medal for Cover Design–Adult, 2025 CIPA EVVY™ Awards Book Competition
Reed (Free Spirits) delivers a heartwarming tale of second chances, focused on two middle-aged brothers and lifelong rivals. Stone Hunnicutt, a litigator in Madison, Wis., receives a letter from Harmony, the partner of his younger brother Ted, asking for $10,000 to renovate a historic home in her rural community, a hippie commune called Peace and Joy. Stone visits Ted, whom he hasn’t seen for 10 years, to determine if he should donate to the cause. There, Stone discovers that Ted, a former professor who has published one well-received novel and was their father’s favorite, is now living in poverty. While Ted is momentarily away, Stone finds a cache of his unpublished novels and steals the manuscripts. Moved by love for his brother and a desire to improve Ted’s life, Stone sets out to get the books published, drawing ire from Ted for invading his privacy. The feud escalates until Stone’s wife and Harmony try to get the brothers to make peace. The writing is a bit rough (a cherry placed on a napkin “bled brightly like fresh blood”), but Reed offers appealing insights on the relationship between art and life and generally sidesteps sentimentality in her portrayal of the brothers’ conflict. This has plenty of charm. —Publishers Weekly
Reed (author of Free Spirits) masterfully crafts Stone and Ted’s characters, presenting a stark contrast between the dutiful, successful lawyer and the once-promising novelist turned commune dweller. Keen insight into family dynamics shines throughout, as Reed unravels the impact of their father's Olympic-inspired motto—“Citius. Altius. Fortius, Scitius… Faster. Higher. Stronger. Smarter”—on the family’s lives and choices. Most compelling is Reed’s portrayal of the women in Stone and Ted’s lives, as they help the brothers confront and ultimately overcome the lasting effects of their father’s very conditional love, an exploration of healing and growth that adds a hopeful dimension to the novel. —Book Life
Reed’s principal characters are brilliant, thoughtful and funny. In masterful prose, these actors think, learn and joke their way through the complex mysteries and surprises of sibling love and rivalry. Even the above-average supporting cast has occasional cameos of wit, with plenty of tongue-in-cheek repartee. The dialogue is the story, so polished that I could almost see the actors on —Deborah Bornstein
