Synopsis
An exotic, spiritual tale combines elements of memoir and parable, in a collection of twelve letters sent with chess pieces to his wife Sonja by Dr. Gustav Uyterhoeven while serving as a doctor in the Boer War concentration camps in South Africa. 25,000 first printing.
Reviews
A rare and exciting work of character and imagination, Hansen's new novel (after the highly praised Boone, which he coauthored with Nick Davis) is set in 19th-century Dayton, Ohio, in Europe and South Africa during the Boer War and on an imaginary island, the Antipodes. During his journey to the heart of the war, where he has volunteered to serve in a British-run concentration camp for forcibly displaced Boers, Dr. Gustav Uyterhoeven sends 12 letters to his wife, Sonja, in Dayton. The letters, fabulist explorations in the manner of Poe, Chesterton and Borges, describe a world where chess pieces, including a queen trapped in a tree, live, die, love, battle and philosophize. With a delightfully deft touch, Hansen carries this conceit off convincingly, and without a hint of sentimentality. Uyterhoeven is a remarkable character, dapper yet heartbroken, civilized, swinging his cane, journeying through sundry marvels with an air of concern and wonder that the reader comes to share. Meanwhile, back in Dayton, the reading of each new letter becomes an event; and, mysteriously, chess pieces mentioned in the letters begin to appear in the Uyterhoevens' garden. This is a complex and powerful work that achieves meaning in the most indelible way possible, through being an extraordinarily well-told tale. Black-and-white illustrations, not seen by PW.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
This remarkable second novel by the coauthor?with Nick Davis?of the critically acclaimed Boone (S. & S., 1990) is a masterpiece of surreal storytelling in the tradition of Lewis Carroll, C.S. Lewis, and J.R.R. Tolkien. Set at the turn of the century, it is the tale of a physician who leaves his home, with its "chess garden," in Dayton, Ohio, to minister to victims of South Africa's Boer War. As he undergoes a spiritual conversion, the doctor proceeds to send his wife a series of letters chronicling an imagined parallel universe called the Antipodes where the game pieces from his garden collection have come to life to guide him through a fantastic and fateful adventure. A writer with a rare gift for evocative description, Hansen deftly weaves allegory and history in this compelling narrative, which most readers will have a hard time putting down. Highly recommended.?David Sowd, formerly with Stark Cty. District Lib., Canton, Ohio
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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