I was a Silas House fan before I read his latest book, Eli the Good, and to be perfectly honest I didn't have a clue what to expect of this book, I hadn't heard a lot about it and had not read any reviews on it, but the book just proves again to me why I am a fan. The book is wonderful.
Set during the summer of 1976 the book is told from the perspective of a 10 year old boy named Eli. Eli watches as his family goes through many changes during this time. The book explores his relationships with his father, his mother, his older sister, his best friend (who is by the way a girl), and his fathers sister, his Aunt Nell. Eli's father is a Vietnam War Veteran who still deals with the devastation of war every single day. Eli doesn't understand his father in the beginning and feels a great distance between them, but as the story unfolds Eli really "meets" his father for the first time during this summer.
Eli's Aunt Nell moves in with them for the summer and the tensions between her and her brother (Eli's father) are explored, you see Nell was an Anti War Protestor during the time that her brother was overseas fighting. Eli's father has never gotten over his hurt over this, he felt like his sister was protesting against him..in a way. This book has shown me both sides of this situation in a way I have never been able to look at before. Many of the Anti War Protestors that you hear about were those on the "extreme" side..those who spat at the veterans and called them "baby killers" when they returned home, these protestors have always been disgusting to me. However, with Nell you meet the other Anti War Protestor, the ones whose main protest against the war was the innocent American soldiers who were being led into the jungle to possibly never return. Nell says in the book that she protested "for him not against him".
All of Mr. Houses' books are amazing works of art to me, however, this one now has a special place in my heart. The emotions that this brought out in me were a little overwhelming & I'm not really sure why that is yet, but its definetely made me think about things differently. This book will pull you into a different time, a different era, & it forces you to look at things from a different perspective.
