FIVE BOYS

Jackson (The Underground Man, 1997) offers a nostalgic, tone-perfect evocation of life in an English village during WWII.

When the Blitz is on and a London boy named Bobby is evacuated (alone) to Devon, it’s almost as though he’s been sent to the farthest reaches of the earth. Put up in a house with the fidgety Miss Minter, who lives alone and scarcely knows what to do with him, he all but dies of homesickness—until he’s sent to school and meets the five boys (so called because they band together, having been born in a single autumn). The meeting is bad, since Bobby gets pummeled, tricked, and tortured—he’s even fed worms—but the tide turns when one of the five reveals his secret fascination with distant London, and the group of friends grows to six. But Miss Minter’s house is on the land being evacuated for the use of the military in preparation for D-day: and Bobby disappears from the book, going with Miss Minter to an outlying farm. Even so, he’s given us a fine start into the remainder of these loosely connected sketches, anecdotes, and tales, having introduced us handsomely to villagers including the reclusive Captain, maker of model ships; the hefty postmistress, Miss Pye, whom he secretly lusts for; the ne’er-do-well Howard Kent; the parents of the five boys; even the stoically arthritic Reverend Bentley. Things change subtly as Americans appear, preparing to invade Europe, and farms become haunted oases on artillery proving grounds. The war will end, but not the story: among other strange, notable, and ordinary things, a man called the Bee King will arrive and, pied-piperlike, enchant the five boys, even lure them away—or seem to—before bringing forth a revelation that may puzzle but will also captivate.

Garrison Keillor mixed with Sherwood Anderson, Our Town, and Under Milkwood: a blending destined to move and please all but the meanest of souls. Wonderful.