This novel recounts the childhood of two brothers, Lou and Oz, whose lives change drastically when their father dies in a car accident. This event, that leaves their mother in a profound coma, forces the children to abandon New York so as to move to the mountains of Virginia, under the care of their paternal great-grandfather. From then on, a world completely unknown to them opens up, in which they learn to discover the value of everyday events, the richness of rural life, the strength to face difficulties and the need to count on the help of others. The story is written from Lou’s perspective, and is thus simple and innocent in language. Little by little, the author inserts the reader into the thoughts and feelings of the girl who, in the course of the novel, grows and learns to take things with maturity.
David Baldacci, more famous for his thrillers, maintains a good rhythm in this work, inserting in the narrative descriptions of the mountains of Virginia, his native land. In the prologue, he tells how the inspiration for this novel was above all the long conversations he had with his mother and maternal grandmother. He insists, “ironically, as a writer I have spent the last twenty years in search for material for a novel and I never learnt to see the inexhaustible mine of resources that there were in my family.” (p.10)
A very amiable novel that helps one to think of the value of the family and of the richness of the experience of the elderly. The mix of moments of suspense and of scenes showing the tender relationship between siblings makes for very pleasant reading.
M.P.L.-H. (Italia, 2008)
Editorial: Grand Central Publishing, 2007. 432 pp.