In the Castle of the Flynns
Saturday, March 28, 2009
In the Castle of the Flynns
Michael Raleigh
2002
358 pages
Long on characterization, short on plot, this is a coming of age story set in Chicago during the 1950s. Young Daniel Dorsey loses his parents in an automobile accident and goes to live with his maternal grandparents, the Flynns. Also in the home are his young Aunt Anne, the eldest son Uncle Mike, and everyone's favorite, Uncle Tom. What follows is the story of the next year...the troubles Danny faces as he struggles with grief and the fear everyone he loves will leave, the declining health of his grandfather, his misdeeds with his troubled Dorsey cousin, Matt, and the trials of his uncles' love lives.
This book actually reminds me a lot of Whistling in the Dark, which was set in Milwaukee in 1959. Only that book has a young girl as the narrator...and there's actually a mystery she's trying to solve. But both books have that post-WWII, small community within a big city, kids running around freely in the summertime, feel to them. Do you know what I mean?
6 comment(s):
I do know what you mean. I love memoirs and I was born in the 50's, so this one sounds good to me.
I know exactly what you mean. This reminds me of Roland Merullo's In Revere, in Those Days.
I do know what you mean. I was the country kid whose big city cousin came to spend her summers with us.
Definitely. I believe I read another similar book as a kid but I can't really remember what it was called.
This is not my type of book, for whatever reason I am not crazy about stories set in the 50's, 60's or that post-war period.
I've had this one on my shelf for a while. Thanks for the post and reminding me about it.
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