Reviewed by Catherine Ekbert- Midwest Book Reviews

Rating: 5 stars

Sandra Kring weaves an intricate and heartwarming tale of family, love, and forgiveness in her sensational debut novel set in 1940 rural Wisconsin.

Earwig Gunderman is a simpleminded sixteen year old coming of age during the tumultuous era of World War II. Mentally crippled by a fever when he was young, he is protected and nurtured by his family, especially his older brother Jimmy. Although his ability to interact with others is limited, his thoughts on the world around him are just as precise as even the sanest person in town.

Earwig's story is told through his eyes of innocence and honesty as he spends his days working in the family grocery, sucker fishing with Jimmy and his friends, playing with his young friend Eddie and visiting his Pa at the local garage. His unique point of view on the quirky residents of his small town is at times hysterical and other times poignant and introspective.

His family life is turned upside down when Jimmy volunteers for the National Guard and is sent to the Philippines during the early days of the war. And old family secret emerges from the depths of his mother's memory and hovers over Earwig's family long after Jimmy's departure and disappearance on the Bataan Peninsula, which eerily mirrors a similar family occurrence during World War I. Despite their
attempts to keep appearances, Earwig stumbles upon the clues he needs to discover the truth.

It is only upon Jimmy's return home five years later that the family learns the truth of his ordeal in the Bataan Death March where he was subject to inconceivable torture and witnessed unimaginable horrors. Only Earwig seems to understand Jimmy's need to rid himself of the sorrows he carries inside. He watches, but does not criticize, as Jimmy and his friend attempt to drown both the demons that visit them in their dreams and their feelings of abandonment with alcohol, but to no avail.

As stories of Jimmy's and the other local boys' ordeal in the Asian jungle are told, a covert mistrust of the US Government emerges among the town-folk, as those who served and were affected most during post World War II are ignored and silenced 'for the good of the country".

Together, Jimmy and Earwig bear their burdens and eventually find their place in a town ripped apart by the tragedies of war.

Sandra Kring's passionate voice is reminiscent of Faulkner, Hemingway and Steinbeck, and leaves you wanting more. In these modern days where commercial thrillers and chick-lit often rule the best-seller list, her old-fashioned style seems new again, and quite a welcome change. The story flows flawlessly from beginning to end and her words are sheer artistry, carefully woven to create Earwig's world. She will make you laugh, have you in tears and take you back to the days of good friends, good times, millponds and bonfires. This is a piece destined to become a classic and is a must read for devotees of the historical fiction or the literary fiction genre. I look forward to her next book.

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