STILL POINTS

An evocative historical novel involving the haunting letters and diaries of a World War II flyboy stationed in the South Pacific.

It’s the final August weekend of 1940, and 20-year-old Philip Zumwalt, recently graduated from college, has two goals. He wants to be a famous musician/songwriter, and he dreams of becoming a pilot. For now, he will be moving from his hometown of Nebo, Illinois, to the neighboring town of Payson, where he will be the new high school music teacher. But first there’s a dance to attend at the casino in Quincy’s Highland Park, featuring Tommy Dorsey and Frank Sinatra. He meets the mesmerizing Elinor “El” Robinson, and they dance the night away together. Several days later, Philip begins his teaching assignment. Much to his dismay, he discovers that the woman who so dazzled him at the casino is a senior at Payson-Seymour High School. Worse, she is his student in band and in his class on world problems. The magnetism between them continues, but romance is forbidden until El’s graduation. Swanson uses the world problems class discussions to gently introduce readers to the diverging views roiling the country about whether the United States should or will become involved in the war raging in Europe. After the school year, Philip resigns, and he and El are free to fall in love. Philip enlists in the U.S. Army Air Force, where he hopes to become a pilot. During basic training in Illinois, he acquires the first of his three Army-issued diaries, which are liberally quoted through Part 2 of the novel. This is not an action-driven narrative, although it contains descriptions of several bombing missions that highlight feats of bravery and determination. But these are sandwiched between the long hours Philip spends reading modern classics, drinking to dull his psychological turmoil, struggling to come to terms with the brutality and moral conflicts of war, and writing. Making ample use of cultural and linguistic references of the period—especially through the lyrics and rhythms of popular music—Swanson takes readers inside a painful time capsule.

An engrossing, quietly eloquent, and heartbreaking loss-of-innocence novel.