Effects of War

The dominant theme of the book is the effect of war. Will Marsden was thirteen years of age when he and his best friend, Ned Smythe, walked out of Falls, North Carolina to fight for the Confederacy. They were both just impressionable boys. Ned was soon killed and Will never recovered from his best friend's death. For the rest of his life, he told war stories and became quite well known for this. He was sought after for interviews and speeches. Somewhere, over the years, he elevated his rank from private to captain and became known as the Captain. When he wanted to revisit the war location, he insisted that the pregnant Lucy and their eight children accompany him. He told Lucy that he was afraid to go alone. On the trip, she noticed a change in him as they approached locations that held painful memories...