In the summer of 1966, just before Natalie's fifteenth birthday, a young American is hired to work on the Ward farm.
She idolizes him and he teaches her to appreciate words and language and books. Of her three brothers, Natalie feels closest to Boyer, the oldest. Her handsome father is the town's milkman and her beautiful mother is loving and devout. "About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.Natalie Ward lives with her family on a dairy farm in the Cascade Mountains. Milner's novel will appeal to teens who have raided their parents' shelves for psychological, plot-driven fiction by writers such as Sue Miller or Anita Shreve.- Caitlin Fralick, Ottawa Public Library, ONĬopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc.
Teens might enjoy the depiction of Natalie's early life in the 1960s, but they may be turned off by other narrative threads, especially that of the adult Natalie, now grown and alienated from some of her family, dealing with her dying mother's illness. The consequences of war, homosexuality, and early promiscuity are explored through Natalie's eyes, but the details seem almost trite. What begins as a vivid picture of the turbulence of the period devolves somewhat into a problem novel with a historical backdrop. The plot moves somewhat predictably through Natalie's relationship with him, as well as her changing relationships with her brothers and parents as she moves toward adulthood. His resistance to the war in Vietnam causes tension on the Ward homestead. The political uncertainty of the era comes knocking on her family's door in the form of a draft resister, Richard "River" Jordan. It is only a matter of time before reality interferes with the idyllic. The main narrative follows Natalie Ward, who leads a charmed life in Prince George, BC, during the 1960s. Adult/High School-This novel with multiple voices chronicles different points in a woman's life.
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