Customer Reviews

Voices From A Far Field

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A good writer has the reader living in the head of his or her protagonist, feeling that character's emotions. By that criterion, Calvin Bowden is a very good writer. Bowden keeps us in the point of view of Heck Tennel, a poor white cotton picker in a small Texas town. The plot is told mostly in back story, a feat that can be confusing, but in Bowden's hands is handled deftly. "Voices From A Far Field" begins with Tennel's return to the town after a sixty year flight to avoid prosecution for crimes of which he was wrongly accused. In divulging the events leading to Tennel's departure, the reader is given insight into life as it was in the early nineteen-thirties, the depths of the Great Depression. The unemployment and poverty experienced by America's large and small cities, paled by comparison to that of the small Texas farm village in Bowden's book. What little work there was, barely fed and clothed the poor field workers, white and black. Eighteen-year-old Heck Tennel was wise far beyond his years. How he managed to keep his crippled father and young sisters from starvation in spite of the roadblocks imposed by the small town's wealthy banker and others, will stir the admiration of even the most heartless souls. Heck is motivated by his devotion to his siblings and his love for a young girl, a relative of the banker who had made his life miserable. The story is told in the colorful vernacular and idioms of the time and place, of which Bowden seems to have personal knowledge. The book never loses its suspense and passion. In all, it is a story well told with a cast of believable people.

I highly recommend this book by a local Texas author. When I read the book I could feel the characters and what they experienced, their pain and their love. It is a great read and everyone should read this book. I totally enjoyed it and bought more copies to give to my friends and family. Excellent!!!