If you have been listening to this program for a while you might have noted that when I really like a book I will on occasion do two interviews for that same book. That's one really wonderful aspect of the publishing process; after a book has been issued in hardcover I'll have an opportunity to revisit some books again when they come out in paperback. I call it the double dip.
"The Vanishing Sky" by L. Annette Binder is that sort of book. This novel really made an impression on me and after I talked to the author about the hardcover version of it I asked her if she would be willing to return to the program when it was reissued in paperback. That's what we did for this interview.
There are always new literary avenues to explore. If you go back and listen to the first interview I think that you'll agree. This luminous story is set during the waning days of WWII in a city in Germany. A mother is deeply concerned about her two sons. Her eldest boy has just returned from the battle zone. There's something the matter with him. He's deeply troubled. Her other son is away from home at a camp for Hitler youth. He's going through some deep trauma, too. And the patriarch of this family, a veteran school teacher who recently lost his job, was becoming increasingly disconnected from reality; he dreams of joining the fight to repel the invaders who were drawing near, the Red Army was steamrolling over the shattered remains of the German forces and the ultimate defeat of the Third Reich was now inevitable.
Binder's prose is simply gorgeous-she is a magnificent story teller. I cannot wait to read her next novel.
The Book Nook on WYSO is presented by the Greene County Public Library with additional support from Washington-Centerville Public Library, Clark County Public Library, Dayton Metro Library, and Wright Memorial Public Library.
