The Boy Who Came Walking Home

Author Peter Scott presents a prequel to his popular Something in the Water in a panoramic portrait of an extended Maine island family at the onset of World War I. The Boy Who Came Walking Home is a vivid depiction of a close-knit island society — its morals, bigotry, family strength, and compelling hold on its residents. In particular, it is the story of young Henry Coombs, who abruptly leaves this hardscrabble fishing community to join the army. Within the context of Henry's journey, the reader learns fascinating details about life in a military encampment, the war's effect on the Maine home front, and the devastation of the 1918 influenza epidemic. Scott's gift for period detail, subtle humor, and fully dimensional characters makes this an engrossing and haunting novel.