Book description
Ty Hale, a young corporal from Lovington, New Mexico, finds himself
alone in the middle of a grain field in Normandy after being knocked
unconscious by the explosion of a German artillery shell. Stunned from
the explosion and overwhelmed by visions of the grandfather who raised
him and the simple life of the New Mexico prairie he has left behind,
Ty attempts to rejoin his unit but instead stumbles onto a country
estate and inextricably into the lives of its inhabitants.
Philippe Gaston, a former music teacher, his stunningly beautiful
daughter Renée, and Hans Heinike, a German deserter and an
accomplished musician, are attempting to carve out a normal existence
in spite of the chaos and destruction that surrounds them. As Philippe
devotes his time to his German protégé, Ty and Renée fall in love and
Ty learns of the Gaston estate's unique legacy of survival and the
most recent story of violence and sacrifice that has preserved this
pristine oasis in the midst of a raging war.
The music that permeates their solitary existence, whether it be the
buzzing and chattering of insects and birds, a violin and human voice
joined in concert, or the fire of machine guns and the distant rumble
of tanks, draws these unlikely comrades together and reveals the
common humanity that resides in us all. The war, the music, the love,
and the rhythms of nature are all timeless and eternal.
Max Evans, novelist, artist, scriptwriter, former cowboy, miner, and
dealer in antiquities, resides in Albuquerque. He received the Owen
Wister Award for lifelong contributions to the field of western
literature from the Western Writers of America.
