David French 
Of the Fields, Lately [EPUB ebook] 

A son returns after an absence of two years to find both his mother and family friend Wiff trying to sustain his father, Jacob. A heart attack has forced Jacob out of work, and he can’t reconcile himself to his frightening situation. The characters all discover something about themselves under this pressure of imminent death.Of the Fields, Lately won the Chalmers Award in 1973.