Amanda Cockrell

"A little ditty / about Jack and Dianne ..." - this line from the John Mellencamp song kept popping into my head as I made my way through Amanda Cockrell's COYOTE WEATHER: A NOVEL OF THE 1960S (2023). Maybe because her story of Jerry and Ellen is also a coming-of-age tale, albeit set in the late sixties, while the Mellencamp tune came along a couple decades later. But if you came of age in the sixties, as I did, you'll probably find plenty to relate to here. I did and I didn't. Because, show more although I very much remember the anti-war protests of the Vietnam war era, the early feminist movement, the advent of "the pill," free love and the summer of love, experiments in communal living, dropouts, draft dodgers and resisters, the head-bashing violence of the Dems convention in Chicago and the protest march on the Pentagon in Washington, the Hare Krishnas - and all those things are in here - I was never quite part of it. Because although I was in college during the sixties, I had already done three years in the Army (just before Vietnam heated up). And I was married by my junior year, working part time nights and weekends, completely focused on getting my degree and a decent job to support my family (a baby my senior year) and getting on with my "real life." And yes, I was against the war, but I had no time for the protests and candlelight marches and sit-ins that were indeed taking place at my own small midwestern university. I was always studying or working.

Cockrell's story, set mainly in the fictional California town of Ayala (a thinly disguised Ojai), shows a vastly different world from my own buttoned down small town in west Michigan. But I had no trouble relating to and remembering the times, maybe from the movies I watched in those years - THE GRADUATE, THE STRAWBERRY STATEMENT, THE STERILE CUCKOO and more. And the pop songs of the era, which I was very tuned in to, and Cockrell fits a number of those into her narrative too. So yeah, the times themselves, the sixties zeitgeist, are well represented, but maybe at the expense of the characters. Because I never found Jerry and Ellen and their sizeable cast of supporting "actors" all that convincing. They remained kinda cardboard, stereotypes, and not even particularly likeable.

So, while COYOTE WEATHER is a pretty good read. I didn't love it. I prefer a strong, character-driven novel. This one was more about the times and settings, so as "A NOVEL OF THE 1960S" it succeeds, and I will recommend it as such. Because if you are of a certain age, this "little ditty" about Jerry and Ellen will certainly stir up memories.

- Tim Bazzett, author of the memoir, BOOKLOVER show less

A story of the 60s when the Vietnam War divided the nation. There were those who were drafted, those who volunteered, and those who objected. This is the story of a community that was affected by the war and the men who were drafted to serve. It also explored the volatility of the time - feminism rising, fighting for women's rights, birth control, cults, and drugs.
I enjoyed the book as it helped me re-visit the time and get a perspective of this era. However, I didn't like the characters.

I was thrilled and very pleased to read this enjoyable follow-up to the author's [Legions of the mist]. The author published this novel many years after the original book. I had loved the former and often imagined what might have happened to the characters after that story ended. This one follows the next generation: most particularly a son of the original protagonist. This young man, Postumus, so-called because he had been born after his father's death, finds he has a gift for healing after show more helping his "courtesy uncle" Licinius, a former army surgeon himself. His calling leads him to becomes an army surgeon himself. The story follows the building of the Antonine Wall, battles with various tribes, his medical experiences, and lastly, a friendship with a young lady, Claudia, a merchant running her own business and a spy for the Governor among one of the Highland tribes. Friendship turns into love with these two young people. The characters were appealing and the author wove in seamlessly elements and characters from the earlier novel. I was fascinated by the descriptions of Roman medicine.

Most highly recommended. show less

Enjoyable. Further adventures of Faustus Silvius Valerianus. In this outing he is sent to Hibernia to train a native army to put the true High king on the throne. When that is concluded successfully, he returns to Roman Britain, he is then sent to the far north as Prefect of Batavians in one of the outlying northern forts. He has to contend with a most unhappy widowed sister, Silvia, who has come with her son to live with him. The boy is thrilled with his new life. Cleaning up after a show more mudslide, which destroys property and people is a challenge for him. He fights a band of rebels from the Orcades [today's Orkneys] and Hibernians and must reckon with his personal life, including a tribeswoman from the Orcades. The story was enthralling, and I do think the author's style is delightful. show less