Dennis McFarland

When we use the word nostalgia these days, we generally mean a longing for past. But the term was also used to refer to severe melancholia, particularly among soldiers.

The protagonist of this Civil War novel, Summerfield Hayes, is a young, base ball playing Brooklynite who enlists in the Union Army over his sister's opposition (they have been all to each other in the few years since their parents were killed in an omnibus accident while visiting Ireland), and finds himself in the midst of show more the Battle of the Wilderness, during which he is wounded and left behind by his fellow soldiers. Wandering through the battlefield, he desperately seeks safety. Ultimately, he is taken to a military hospital in Washington, his injuries more psychic than physical, suffering from what we now call post-traumatic stress disorder. He cannot speak. When he attempts to write, his hand shakes uncontrollably. He has nightmares and visions. And just as still happens in today's military, his mental injury is seen by some of the hospital's powers-that-be as malingering. But others are on his side, including the poet, Walt Whitman, who spent much of the war visiting the wounded.

On those bones is hung a tale of love and comradeship, hope and desperation, as McFarland chillingly describes the horrors of war, made, perhaps, all the more horrific by the descriptions of the very ordinary things soldiers do to pass the time waiting for battle. He takes us back and forth in time and place, as Hayes remembers Brooklyn and his family, the battle and his fellow soldiers. The author uses a couple of stylistic devices in conjunction with one another to differentiate time and place, using the present tense when Hayes is in the present, and the past tense when he is remembering, and referring to his protagonist as "Hayes" when he is at the front and in the hospital, but "Summerfield" when he is home in Brooklyn.

I acquired this book at the American Library Association convention in Chicago; it was a publisher's freebie. I hesitated before picking it up, as I am not a Civil War buff. Didn't matter. This is a beautifully written, evocative book, and I found that I really cared about what happened to Summerfield. show less

This novel switches around between a few separate (though adjacent) time periods: Summerfield’s life at home right before he enlists in the army, his time spent as a private before and during his first battle, and the events that occur after he is abandoned on the battlefield and ends up in a military hospital. I’ve never encountered this type of narrative arrangement before, but I loved it. McFarland’s transitions between the time periods are smooth and keep the story moving along show more briskly. At times, it felt like pieces of a puzzle were falling into place as small details that had seemed insignificant in one time period suddenly had more meaning in another time period. The disjointed nature of it seemed fitting for a story about PTSD—it reflects the way a PTSD sufferer’s memories might be disrupted and scattered.

McFarland’s writing is fantastic. His descriptions are concise, yet filled with carefully chosen, vivid details that bring the scenes to life in the reader’s mind. I even found myself going back to reread some passages because they were so beautifully written. The descriptions of battle and the military hospital are horrific—as they should be. The ghastly deaths and injuries Summerfield witnesses emphasize the shocking and staggering waste and brutality of war, and make his development of PTSD completely understandable and all the more heartbreaking. The portrayal of Summerfield’s PTSD—imagined injuries and pain, flashbacks, visual and auditory delusions, losing his ability to speak and write—was fascinating. I’m not a PTSD expert, but I’m interested in it and have read about it, and would recommend this book for anyone wanting an idea of what it’s like.

Summerfield has a lot of depth as a character. His love for baseball is a reminder that he’s just a normal young man who had a life (and a bright future) before the war. A constant tension arises from his “unnatural” feelings for his older sister, which caused him to enlist in the military to get away from home. His kindness and sympathy toward, and companionship with, the other soldiers endeared me to him. The always looming possibility of him being accused of desertion and executed kept me on edge.

Overall, this was a brilliant, gripping novel. I plan to read more works by this author even if they aren’t the type of stories I’d typically read—he’s that good.

Note: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. show less

Great book - more about the effects of PTSD on soldiers in battle. Set during the Civil War - where, of course, PTSD, was known as being cowardly, etc. The hero(?)is a baseball player from New York - what's not to like about that? Well crafted story and beautifully written - considering that you're smack deep in the middle of the horrors of a brutal war, there is enough insight to give some hope.

The Music Room by Dennis McFarland is a recommended novel that focuses on a dysfunctional family of alcoholics.


Marty Lambert's life is already in shambles when he receives the call informing him that his brother, Perry has committed suicide in NYC. Marty, a record producer in San Francisco, and his wife are divorcing and he has already started to reduce his possessions down to 2 suitcases when he recieves the phone call that sends him to NYC to try and figure what lead his younger brother to show more apparently commit suicide. When he arrives in NYC, Marty finds no easy answers explaining the reason for Perry suicide. He does meet Perry's girlfriend, Jane Owlcaster, and inherits his dog.

Perry's death leaves Marty with a mystery that he is determined to solve, although he goes about it in a befuddled, self-examination kind of trance rather than face his need for mourning. As Marty seeks answers, along the way he also reminisces about the past and recalls the neglectful, turbulent upbringing he and Perry experienced in a family of alcoholics. As can often be the case some of the answers may be found in the past. Or maybe there are no real answers to be found. Marty must also face his own inherited legacy of alcoholism.

McFarland's beautifully expressive prose carries the novel while the narrative itself can be trying. Reading about a family of wealthy, self-centered alcoholics doesn't usually guarantee any great connection with the characters for me. Although I certainly felt empathy for Marty, I grew weary of him wallowing in his unhappiness as he explored his emotions. That said, there are some very poignant scenes with a keen insight into these deeply flawed characters.

Disclosure: My Kindle edition was courtesy of Open Road Media via Netgalley for review purposes. show less