Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, August 15, 1993 TAG: 9312010326
SECTION: HORIZON PAGE: D4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Reviewed by LYNN ECKMAN|
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
This ``novel about the homefront'' during World War II focuses on people living in a blue collar neighborhood of a small California town and depicts them so vividly that the reader becomes part of their lives. Ernest J. Finney gets inside the minds of children, a young elementary school teacher, a career navy man and a family from Tennessee, letting all express themselves uniquely as they react to the chaos of the times.
Mary Maureen, who is in fifth grade in 1943 says, ``This war had twisted our street and the whole city, just like an earthquake had happened and changed things.''
Changes, for better and worse, occur with alarming speed, and they affect everyone, especially after her father, a veteran of the First World War, rejoins the army.
Related by five different characters, ``Word of My Roaring'' shifts from daily concerns and individual reactions to a panoramic view of the war years, to which anyone old enough can relate. The two are skillfully blended by the author in wondrous ways, and the pace never flags. Finney has the uncanny gift of making it all real.
The last part of the book takes place in 1975 and reveals many surprises. The children have all grown up, the neighborhood has changed, of course, but nothing else is predictable. Because these people have become important to us, we read with increasing interest, and upon finishing the book, we realize that all the changes, while not predictable, are yet inevitable. Such is the power of a talented storyteller.
Lynn Eckman teaches at Roanoke College.
by CNB