What Is Left the Daughter

Norman offers a unique perspective of the period before WWII from the eyes of Nova Scotia residents. Wyatt Hillyer writes his memoirs in a letter to his estranged daughter on her birthday. As a child, listeners learn, he lost both his parents in separate suicides, then chose to apprentice with his uncle as a toboggan and sled craftsman. His love for his charming adopted cousin was overshadowed by her romance with a German student, a choice that divided Wyatt's small Canadian community and broke his heart. Bronson Pinchot bestows his performance of love and loss with an emotional yet guileless appeal. He believably produces German, Irish, and Canadian accents while also remaining true to Wyatt's clear voice and na•ve character. Beautifully performed with subtle grace, this distinctive interpretation of historical events unfolds a poignant wartime confession of despair and hope. A.W. (c) AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine

Starred review from April 12, 2010
Set on the Atlantic coast of Canada during WWII, Norman’s latest (after Devotion
) is an expertly crafted tale of love during wartime. Wyatt Hillyer loses both his parents on the same day when they jump from different bridges in Halifax, Nova Scotia, after they discover they are both having affairs with the woman next door. Wyatt’s aunt and uncle take him in, and Wyatt becomes his uncle’s apprentice in his sled and toboggan business and, despite the circumstances, soon falls in love with his adopted cousin, Tilda. Yet he must resign himself to loving from a distance when Tilda brings home Hans Moehring, a German university student. The two begin a courtship harshly complicated by reports of U-boat attacks on Canadian ships, and Tilda’s father becoming increasingly uneasy about this potential enemy in their midst. Norman’s writing is effortless, and his plot is grand in scope but studded with moments of tenderness and intimacy that help crystallize the anxiety and weariness of life on the home front. That Norman is able to achieve so much in 250 pages is a testament to his mastery of the craft.

November 15, 2010

Set in World War II Nova Scotia during the German U-boat invasion, two-time National Book Award nominee Norman's epistolary novel tells the story of Wyatt Hillyer, tragedy magnet. When Wyatt's parents commit suicide on the same night upon discovering they are in love with the same woman, Wyatt moves in with his extended family and becomes embroiled in his own love triangle. Historical events add tension to this muted tale, and though Norman's slow and meticulous storytelling may entrance some listeners, Wyatt's passivity is positively frustrating. Actor/Audie Award winner Bronson Pinchot's performance is appropriately flat and unemotional, faultless but failing to build interest. Recommended only for libraries with a strong literary fiction listenership. [The Houghton Harcourt hc was described as "a haunting novel not soon to be forgotten," LJ 7/10.--Ed.]--Carly M. Wiggins, Division of Multicultural Affairs, Western Michigan Univ., Kalamazoo

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