Howard Kapostash is a quiet man, literally. Sixteen days into his tour of duty in Vietnam he was severely injured in a land mine explosion. Beating the odds by surviving at all, Howard was left without the ability to process language. Unable to speak, read or write but perfectly capable of understanding the spoken word and forming his own thoughts, it’s a cruel disability for an otherwise sound mind to endure. With communication limited to a handful of gestures and a few noises, Howard has quietly slipped into a safe routine revolving around his job as groundskeeper for a convent and home.
This tightly controlled life is completely thrown into disarray when Howard’s high school sweetheart Sylvia calls upon him to watch over Ryan, her nine-year old son while she gets dragged into rehab by her sister. Howard has never quit carrying the torch for Sylvia and as he can’t really say no, finds himself having to care for the young boy.
Dealing with Ryan forces Howard to emerge from his shell and begin truly living once again. Breakfast becomes an event as Howard begins to cook not only for Ryan but also for his housemates with whom he has lived but not interacted until now. In an attempt to provide Ryan with normal childhood experiences, Howard enrolls him in a baseball team. Once there, Howard is once again dragged further into the land of the living as the coach enlists his aid as umpire. Each day brings new challenges, new thrills, and new depths of despair.
As Howard undertakes the responsibilities involved with raising a child he finds himself facing memories, inner turmoil and rage that has been locked away for thirty years. He eventually is forced to face the truth about Sylvia, the kind of person she really is not the dream he has built for himself. With the death of old dreams, when all seems lost, hope and renewal can appear in unexpected places.
This quite simply is an amazing first novel. The story line and characters are finely crafted, totally believable. The writing style is smooth with the different scenes fitting together seamlessly. Occasionally I found myself frustrated with Howard’s character, the ongoing self pity/self absorption got to be a bit irritating. I just wanted to give him a good shaking and this too is the result of a well-written tale. Do give this book a try.
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