One
of the many pleasures that my late husband, John, and I enjoyed was collecting signed,
first editions. We loved roaming through antique stores, used bookstores and
junk sales, eager to see what we could find.
And I must admit that since I was a kid, I’ve fantasized about finding
the Ernest Hemingway’s lost valise, overflowing with finished and unfinished
manuscripts. The allure of discovery and the thrill of the chase is one of the
things that peaked my interest in author Harold K. Bush’s debut novel.
I
found the opening “Note to the reader” to be quite confusing. The first
paragraph is a doozy; it states that the “story is based on actual events and
real historical personalities.” In this paragraph, Bush tells us Professor Martin
Dean is a second cousin and it is now his responsibility to publish these
documents. Quite confusing for a fictional story.
In
this tale, Professor Dean has returned to his office at Indiana University.
Among the pile of mail is a box. As he opens it, there are several packages,
marked in the order to be opened. The letter accompanying the box tells Dean
that one of his favorite, former students, Jack Springs has died from prostate
cancer at the age of 44.
It
seems that after Jack graduate with a Yale PhD. He was unable to find
employment. He ended up receiving a Goto Fellowship that sent him to Kobe,
Japan, in the early 1990s. Jack meets the man responsible for the Fellowship, a
Japanese professor of American Literature named Goto. He and Jack have much in
common.
It
takes some time and a delicate balancing of Old Japan customs, but the two men
become friends, despite the vast differences in their ages. Goto is a collector
of rare and valuable items from the vast field of American authors.
Slowly
he reveals his treasures to Jack, who never fails to be amazed at the artifacts
that Goto owns, like an 1855 first edition of Walt Whitman’s “Leaves of Grass.” That is only one of the many holy grails of
American literature.
This
is a treasure hunt/adventure of sorts that I found impossible to put down. Both
men are equally charming in their own way. The story contains lots of surprises
that I hasn’t seen coming.
The Hemingway Files gets 5 out of 5
stars in Julie’s world.
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