Tuesday, June 17, 2008

The Little Book by Selden Edwards


Dilly Burden was a legend and a hero. He excelled at his Boston boys' school and at Harvard, was a star baseball player and gave his life in World War II when he was tortured and killed by the Gestapo in France. His only son, Wheeler, has no memory of his Dad but has spent his life living up to the legend.

Where Dilly was an icon, Wheeler is more eccentric. He followed in his father's footsteps to the Boston boys' school and despite guidance from a much beloved teacher, the Haze, (who had also taught his father), he was an average student. He did show talent in baseball but his real love was music. He found great success in his life and was quite a music star in the late 1980s but never stuck to anything, or anyone, for any great length of time. He was always looking for something he couldn't put his finger on.

But that's not where the story begins...

Suddenly one day Wheeler is walking along and begins to realize that he is somewhere he does not recognize. He soon discovers that he is in 1897 Vienna, in his modern clothes and with all of his memories intact. He doesn't know how he got there or how long this visit will last. But as one day stretches to two, he realizes that he is going to need some help. Thanks to the Haze, Wheeler speaks German well and knows a bit about this part of European history. After much consideration he approaches Sigmund Freud, a little known figure at the time, for help. Their discussions and the journal Wheeler starts to keep help him to begin to understand this amazing thing that has happened to him.

During his stay in Vienna, Wheeler discovers his past in a way that is entirely surprising and leaves you hoping that Selden Edwards has somehow really figured out the way the universe works.

There are many well developed characters that appear in the story. The reader gets to know them all and will realize that this book isn't just about Wheeler or even most importantly about Wheeler but about his loved ones and the patterns that life weaves.

This is an absolutely wonderful book. It has layers of meaning and an interconnectedness that make it a breath-taking read. It's a history lesson and a love story, a mystery and a psychology lesson. I can't recommend it highly enough.

The Little Book will be published in August, 2008 by Dutton

7 comments:

Lisa said...

This sounds fascinating! I've been reading a lot of historical fiction/time travel/fiction based on real-life characters lately and this sounds like it would fit right in.

The Tome Traveller said...

I loved it. It reminded me of the classic time travel novels of Jack Finney, "Time and Again" & "From Time to Time". But it is completely original and surprising. A wonderful book!

Traci said...

What a great endorsement. I've added this one to my wishlist.

Lenore Appelhans said...

I added this to my wishlist back when I saw it on shelf awareness. Good to hear I can keep it on there!

hellskitchen said...

I had the great luck to copy edit the manuscript of "Fin de Siecle," the original title of "The Little Book." It's difficult to summarize, but Tome did a good job. I highly recommend it. I look forward to getting a copy of the published book tomorrow!

tashiana said...

wow now this sounds like a good read
i love time travel
and ooo a look at a fictional freud

Becca said...

Sounds like a story with a lot of depth. I'm not usually interested in psychology but this just might make it interesting even to me


Thoughts from an Evil Overlord

Thank you!!

Thank you to Beth at Beth Fish Reads and to The Blogger Guide for helping me to customize my template and to Andrea at The Little Bookworm for improving my header!!

About Me

My photo
New Hampshire, United States
Bibliophile, Anglophile, Traveller... I have been an avid reader all of my life, since I took the Dr. Seuss Dictionary away from my Mom when I was less than a year old because I wanted to read it myself. In college, where I earned my degree in English Literature, I was often asked "What are you going to do with it?" Now I finally have the answer to that question!!! Being employed as a Flight Attendant for twenty years has given me a lot of life experience and, better still, a lot of time to read. I love to travel for fun, too.