This gentle and lovely book takes place in 1928 in the Pacific northwest and focuses on Julian Powell, who suffers from an illness that is never named but has limited his life. He lives with his overbearing aunt, meek uncle, and cruel cousin after the death of his parents when he was a child. Now he is a young man but has been held down by his illness and his uncaring family. Books and writing are his solace in his lonely and solitary life. But when an ailing childhood friend, Mark, moves back to town, he decides to move in with him and Mark's father to help take care of him. While there, he gets to know one of their neighbors, William Neill, a WWI veteran suffering from flashbacks of the battlefields in France. As their friendship grows, Julian and William help each other find what the other has been missing.
What an unexpected treasure this story turned out to be. The author really knows how to write lovely descriptions, and her gentle phrases mirrored the gentleness in Julian, his love of nature, and his wonderment of the outdoors after having spent so much time inside while ill. He also has a secret that makes the story all the sweeter. William is also a very kind and tenderhearted man who struggles with what he witnessed in the war, and his protection of Julian is touching. On top of all this, there are two dogs and a cat who come to enrich Julian's life. This was a deeply moving tale of living for love and choosing a family of one's own. 175 pages (Kindle edition).
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