Rating: 
Summary: Walter's Purple Heart
Review: Walter may have only earned a Purple Heart but the author, Catherine Ryan Hyde, should be awarded the Distinguised Service Award for bravery. She has tackled several controversial themes head on and weaves a good story out of them. Younger man in love with older woman, reincarnation and ouija boards, all told in the voices most appropriate for that part of the suspenseful plot being revealed. You keep reading to the end and are amply rewarded.
Rating: 
Summary: THE IMPORTANCE OF FORGIVENESS AND THE WASTE OF WAR
Review: With "Pay It Forward" (2000 ) Catherine Ryan Hyde displayed her talent for insightfully portraying human emotions. She underscores that gift with "Walter's Purple Heart" in which she not only tugs at heartstrings but deftly plays them while building to a poignant crescendo. Related in alternate narrative voices, this is the story of a love unfulfilled and a life unfinished. We meet Michael Steeb, a young California pot farmer, an unambitious fellow who plays the sax and lives in an almost built farmhouse. When unexplainable events occur, Michael turns to a Ouija board for answers. Instead of answers he meets Walter, the spirit of a young soldier killed some 40 years earlier. But in this case death isn't the end, as Walter explains, "Did you think I was gone? No chance of that. If death was the end of me, this story would be over." It takes time and persistence for Walter to convince Michael that they are one and the same, that Michael is the reincarnation of Walter. Michael is conflicted enough without two personalities jousting within him, and Walter is unable to move on until some tough questions from his short life are answered. Therefore, Michael reluctantly sets out for New Mexico to find Andrew, Walter's best high school friend and army buddy and Mary Ann, the fiancee who promised to wait. Now, Walter has promised Michael that he will know what to say when he finds Andrew. Not so. Not only is Michael dumbstruck but he finds that Mary Ann and Andrew have been married for 38 years. "I can't believe you did it, Andrew," Michael snaps, "You married my girl." Andrew thinks Michael is either crazy or a conman. Perhaps both. Mary Ann recognizes Walter in Michael almost immediately and the love affair that was ended by a sniper's bullet many years before begins again despite the vast difference in their ages. Obstinate and obdurate Andrew cannot bring himself to believe that any part of Walter exists in Michael until, finally, during one harrowing night he becomes convinced. As it turns out, that is only one of Michael's tasks. He also comforts Walter's mother who is near death in a nursing home and makes peace with Robbie, Walter's younger brother, who always followed Walter to school a good 20 paces behind. Throughout the narrative Walter reveals insights into the lives of his friends and family, noting, "It's not even in what we say about ourselves, so much. It's in what we leave out." From an implacable, remote father, Walter has learned that "The most important moments of our lives are supposed to go without saying." With this, her fourth novel, Ms. Hyde reminds us of the significance of forgiveness and the waste of war. At times, Walters memories may be reminiscent of the classic film "It's A Wonderful Life" in which scenes from a life are replayed to emphasize the significance of everyday events. And, some may question the physical attraction between a 21-year-old Michael and a 60-plus Mary Ann. Yet the story soars above these reservations. It takes a perceptive and gentle hearted writer to create a Walter who says, "......there's nothing so remarkable about me. Except that I'm Walter. And I'm Walter in a way that nobody else ever has been before or ever will be again. And I honestly believe that Walter-ness counts for something." Indeed, it does...
Rating:
Summary: THE IMPORTANCE OF FORGIVENESS AND THE WASTE OF WAR
Review: With "Pay It Forward" (2000 ) Catherine Ryan Hyde displayed her talent for insightfully portraying human emotions. She underscores that gift with "Walter's Purple Heart" in which she not only tugs at heartstrings but deftly plays them while building to a poignant crescendo. Related in alternate narrative voices, this is the story of a love unfulfilled and a life unfinished. We meet Michael Steeb, a young California pot farmer, an unambitious fellow who plays the sax and lives in an almost built farmhouse. When unexplainable events occur, Michael turns to a Ouija board for answers. Instead of answers he meets Walter, the spirit of a young soldier killed some 40 years earlier. But in this case death isn't the end, as Walter explains, "Did you think I was gone? No chance of that. If death was the end of me, this story would be over." It takes time and persistence for Walter to convince Michael that they are one and the same, that Michael is the reincarnation of Walter. Michael is conflicted enough without two personalities jousting within him, and Walter is unable to move on until some tough questions from his short life are answered. Therefore, Michael reluctantly sets out for New Mexico to find Andrew, Walter's best high school friend and army buddy and Mary Ann, the fiancee who promised to wait. Now, Walter has promised Michael that he will know what to say when he finds Andrew. Not so. Not only is Michael dumbstruck but he finds that Mary Ann and Andrew have been married for 38 years. "I can't believe you did it, Andrew," Michael snaps, "You married my girl." Andrew thinks Michael is either crazy or a conman. Perhaps both. Mary Ann recognizes Walter in Michael almost immediately and the love affair that was ended by a sniper's bullet many years before begins again despite the vast difference in their ages. Obstinate and obdurate Andrew cannot bring himself to believe that any part of Walter exists in Michael until, finally, during one harrowing night he becomes convinced. As it turns out, that is only one of Michael's tasks. He also comforts Walter's mother who is near death in a nursing home and makes peace with Robbie, Walter's younger brother, who always followed Walter to school a good 20 paces behind. Throughout the narrative Walter reveals insights into the lives of his friends and family, noting, "It's not even in what we say about ourselves, so much. It's in what we leave out." From an implacable, remote father, Walter has learned that "The most important moments of our lives are supposed to go without saying." With this, her fourth novel, Ms. Hyde reminds us of the significance of forgiveness and the waste of war. At times, Walters memories may be reminiscent of the classic film "It's A Wonderful Life" in which scenes from a life are replayed to emphasize the significance of everyday events. And, some may question the physical attraction between a 21-year-old Michael and a 60-plus Mary Ann. Yet the story soars above these reservations. It takes a perceptive and gentle hearted writer to create a Walter who says, "......there's nothing so remarkable about me. Except that I'm Walter. And I'm Walter in a way that nobody else ever has been before or ever will be again. And I honestly believe that Walter-ness counts for something." Indeed, it does...
Rating:
Summary: A FINE READ!
Review: Woody Allen said, "The heart wants what it wants." Catherine Ryan Hyde says it again - beautifully - in Walter's Purple Heart!
Rating:
Summary: A FINE READ!
Review: Woody Allen said, "The heart wants what it wants." Catherine Ryan Hyde says it again - beautifully - in Walter's Purple Heart!
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