Down the Row From Benjamin is the story of the life-long love between Ellis Ashton and his recently deceased wife, Rosa. Their life together has been full of challenges that they have met and overcome. Together they built a life and a successful textile business. In the weeks following the death of Rosa, Ellis has withdrawn and is overcome by despair, until the letter that challenges him again.
The letter, written by Rosa just weeks before her death, asks one last thing from Ellis. Please, she begs, you must tell Craig about Benjamin. Tell him everything about the family that we’ve hidden all these years. Tell our son about his real parents and why they weren’t here for him. It’s time for him to know it all.
And so it begins. Ellis starts to write everything in a journal while sitting at Rosas gravesite for hours every day. Everything goes into his journal: the guilt Ellis feels after witnessing the murder of his father. Why it was necessary to change their name before Craig had even seen his father. What was the awful truth about Craig’s mother that they never told him? Who is and who isn’t a part of the Ashton clan? How life began to settle and even improve when his life included Rosa, and then how quickly perfection was torn apart and his future with Rosa was no longer guaranteed. In fact, it was uncertain if he even had a future in a world torn apart by war.
Ellis struggles against the well-intentioned concerns of his family over his newly diagnosed heart problem. In addition, his friends and family have noted his gradually increasing confusion and his seemingly obsessive need to complete the journal. Ellis battles exhaustion and failing health to complete the epic story for Craig as he had promised Rosa. Desperation leads to his final reckless act to conclude the story.
