Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Review of 'Wish You Well' by David Baldacci

For hardcore Baldacci fans, this novel is a departure from his taut legal, crime and spy thrillers full of bullets, large burly heroes, and villains. But even they will not be disappointed by this tale of wonder and hope launched from a childhood tragedy.

The year is 1940.
Twelve-year-old Lou and her seven-year-old brother Oz are plucked from New York city after a car accident kills their father and leaves their mother Amanda in a catatonic trance. Set down in the hills of Virginia on a farm with neither phones, plumbing or electricity, the stories best workings are found in the children as they overcome the shock of a new deprived existence. They have no choice but to fall into the sunup to sundown rigor of chores to keep the farm in working order.
The character of Lou’s namesake great-grandmother Louisa will stay with you throughout your life. You’ll both wish you’d had a grandmother like her and at times be glad you didn’t.
The children’s first best friend Diamond Skinner, a barefoot preteen Daniel Boone scraping out his own existence and spinning towering tales along the way, is as stunning a character as any of Baldacci’s spies and gunners.
Cotton Longfellow is a lawyer and friend of the family, but not the coal company trying to steal the farm. Perhaps he’s never made it as a lawyer due to his lofty principles.
Villains abound in grimy men of the hills and sharp-suited coal company men.
Any reader of fiction would regret missing this story.



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