Review by Booklist Review
Lock continues his consistently strong American Novels series, following Tooth of the Covenant, 2021), with a twin tale of two literary luminaries. The first of what is essentially two novellas introduces Walt Whitman as he tends to the Civil War wounded in a Washington, DC hospital. Whitman provides sweets and spirits to sooth the souls of the afflicted, but his ministrations are viewed with a jaundiced eye by administrators concerned with rumors of immorality surrounding the "odious" Leaves of Grass author. Part two features the spirited, young Louisa May Alcott working nearby as a nurse whose "heart must be a cashbox until the Alcott family is no longer in arrears," taking copious notes that will later become her Hospital Sketches. Lock's deep knowledge of the time period is evident throughout, his research impeccable, his prose iridescent. Several other notable figures make cameo appearances, including President Lincoln, photographer Mathew Brady, and artist John James Audubon. It is the latter two with whom Lock must surely rank, similarly bringing to vibrant life his subjects, while adding his signature, carefully chosen colorful flourishes.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Lock (Tooth of the Covenant) delivers immersive accounts of Walt Whitman and Louisa May Alcott during the American Civil War in the evocative latest installment of his American Novels cycle. The two writers work at Washington, D.C., field hospitals in 1862 and 1863, but never meet each another. In parallel interior monologues, Whitman and Alcott bemoan the unsanitary medical practices and reflect on their character flaws, as Whitman battles his narcissism and grandiosity, and Alcott frets over her temper and physical appearance. While Lock portrays how they successfully cared for the soldiers and lifted their spirits--Whitman by talking with them and writing letters on their behalf, and Alcott by serving as a nurse--he also lays bare their historically verifiable ignorance on racial equality, as demonstrated by Whitman openly expressing doubt that emancipation would be worth the sacrifice of so many lives--a thought taken verbatim from his journals and letters. Both Alcott and Whitman bristle at behavior they interpret as insolence or sullenness from Black people in response to their presumed generosity. The landscape and environs of D.C. are memorably described, and Lock's uncanny gift for reproducing the literary voices of his narrators goes beyond mere pastiche. This insightful double portrait brings both Whitman and Alcott into sharp focus. (July)
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Review by Library Journal Review
The ninth stand-alone book in Lock's "American Novels" series (following Tooth of the Covenant) details the lives of Walt Whitman and Louisa May Alcott during a brief time in 1863 when they were both volunteering at hospitals in Washington, DC, during the Civil War. Alcott and Whitman never met in real life, but the broad outline of the story is factual, and Lock convincingly writes in the voices of his subjects. Whitman works in the army paymaster's office and tends to injured and dying soldiers at the Armory Square Hospital in his free time. Alcott is a nurse at the more dismal Union Hotel Hospital, where disease runs rampant and unhygienic amputations are carried out, until she contracts typhoid and has to return home to recover. Alcott's abolitionist views starkly contrast with Whitman's racism, and in the afterword, Lock addresses how disconcerting it was to discover Whitman's personal views when his published work often challenged the prejudices of his time. VERDICT Lock captures the strong personalities of Whitman and Alcott without glossing over their flaws in this fascinating snapshot of history.--Melissa DeWild
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
Lock's latest novel reckons honestly with the legacies of two beloved writers. Lock's American Novels cycle of books has, since its inception, covered a wide amount of stylistic ground, from the surreal to the philosophical. While a few of the supporting characters in this book overlap with some of Lock's earlier works, the bulk of it focuses on a few months in the lives of Walt Whitman and Louisa May Alcott, during a period when both were helping wounded Civil War soldiers convalesce. Through the writers' proximity to the effects of war, Lock depicts both as grappling with their feelings on racial equality and the legacy of slavery in the United States. Each has a distinctive approach, with Alcott wondering whether her commitment to abolition is enough and the famously contradictory Whitman's transcendentalist reveries occasionally interrupted by his use of bluntly racist language. What makes the novel, particularly its Whitman-centric first half, so gripping is the way in which Lock depicts Whitman's inner conflict--sometimes offensive, sometimes empathic, and sometimes wounded when he's called out for his hypocrisy. The legacy of John Brown looms over both Alcott and Whitman, offering an example of someone who turned his ideals into unambiguous actions. Lock also maintains distinctive narrative styles for each of his two narrators, with Alcott's section memorably beginning with her calling Whitman "a shameless ass" and Whitman himself prone to more poetic reveries, as when he ponders the human cost of war: "I think there is a grand regiment of the dead, which is enlisting men and boys, white and black, from every corner of the nation." A haunting novel that offers candid portraits of literary legends. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
