Walter's Purple Heart
by Catherine Ryan Hyde 
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Description
Michael Steeb is an aimless twenty-one-year-old pot farmer in Central California in the 1980s. He has no real plans or interests . . . until the day he connects with memories of a life that seems to belong to someone else. That "spirit" is Walter, a young American soldier killed in World War II. Michael's task is the near impossible: to lead Walter's family to closure and peace, to deliver the real truth behind Walter's Purple Heart, and to somehow achieve the forgiveness absent for so many show more years so Walter can move on. Michael sets out to find Walter's best friend, Andrew, and Mary Ann, the fiancée Walter left behind. Mary Ann recognizes Walter in Michael immediately. But Andrew sets out to prove that Michael is the worst sort of con man. Narrated in large part by Walter from beyond the grave, Walter's Purple Heart is a fast-paced war drama and a deeply felt romance, with a unique twist on the prospect of multiple lives. Catherine Ryan Hyde paints an enduring portrait of a life prematurely lost, and the endless ripples of consequence to those who loved him, in a microcosm that sheds light on the true gravity of war. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
See the other two reviews for context.
A good dose of magical realism, with Walter taking over/reincarnated/spirit invading the free-wheeling pot farmer Michael.
There is unresolved conflict between Walter (deceased soldier) and Andrew (soldier who came home after his injury and married Walter's sweetheart MaryAnn).
Interesting how some of the characters believed the reincarnation readily - I doubt that I would have.
Ocean City was mentioned a lot, but I suspect it was Ocean City Maryland, as Ocean City, NJ is a dry town.
Overall it was a good story and kept you guessing until late in the book about the conflict between Walter and Andrew.
A good dose of magical realism, with Walter taking over/reincarnated/spirit invading the free-wheeling pot farmer Michael.
There is unresolved conflict between Walter (deceased soldier) and Andrew (soldier who came home after his injury and married Walter's sweetheart MaryAnn).
Interesting how some of the characters believed the reincarnation readily - I doubt that I would have.
Ocean City was mentioned a lot, but I suspect it was Ocean City Maryland, as Ocean City, NJ is a dry town.
Overall it was a good story and kept you guessing until late in the book about the conflict between Walter and Andrew.
I am trying to go back and find books by Hyde that I have missed! How she missed getting published with her very first effort is well beyond my opinion! I just plain love the way she writes and her development of characters and their stories. She wrote in her blog...two books a year....how perfectly wonderful for me, a delighted reader!
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Author Information
57+ Works 8,112 Members
Catherine Ryan Hyde lives in Cambria, California.
Catherine Ryan Hyde is a LibraryThing Author, an author who lists their personal library on LibraryThing.
Common Knowledge
- Original publication date
- 2002
Classifications
- Genres
- Fiction and Literature, General Fiction, Romance, Historical Fiction
- DDC/MDS
- 813.54 — Literature & rhetoric American literature in English American fiction in English 1900-1999 1945-1999
- LCC
- PS3558 .Y358 .W35 — Language and Literature American literature American literature Individual authors 1961-
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 49
- Popularity
- 614,098
- Reviews
- 2
- Rating
- (3.75)
- Languages
- English, Portuguese
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 6
- ASINs
- 2
