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Nostalgia
** Washington Post Best 50 Books of the Year**
This stunning Civil War novel from best-selling author Dennis McFarland brings us the journey of a nineteen-year-old private, abandoned by his comrades in the Wilderness, who is struggling to regain his voice, his identity, and his place in a world utterly changed by what he has experienced on the battlefield.
In the winter of 1864, Summerfield Hayes, a pitcher for the famous Eckford Club, enlists in the Union army, leaving his sister, a schoolteacher, devastated and alone in their Brooklyn home. The siblings, who have lost both their parents, are unusually attached, and Hayes fears his untoward secret feelings for his sister. This rich backstory is intercut with scenes of his soul-altering hours on the march and at the front—the slaughter of barely grown young men who only days before whooped it up with him in a regimental ball game; his temporary deafness and disorientation after a shell blast; his fevered attempt to find safe haven after he has been deserted by his own comrades—and, later, in a Washington military hospital, where he finds himself mute and unable even to write his name. In this twilit realm, among the people he encounters—including a compassionate drug-addicted amputee, the ward matron who only appears to be his enemy, and the captain who is convinced that Hayes is faking his illness—is a gray-bearded eccentric who visits the ward daily and becomes Hayes’s strongest Walt Whitman. This timeless story, whose outcome hinges on friendships forged in crisis, reminds us that the injuries of war are manifold, and the healing goodness in the human soul runs deep and strong.
This stunning Civil War novel from best-selling author Dennis McFarland brings us the journey of a nineteen-year-old private, abandoned by his comrades in the Wilderness, who is struggling to regain his voice, his identity, and his place in a world utterly changed by what he has experienced on the battlefield.
In the winter of 1864, Summerfield Hayes, a pitcher for the famous Eckford Club, enlists in the Union army, leaving his sister, a schoolteacher, devastated and alone in their Brooklyn home. The siblings, who have lost both their parents, are unusually attached, and Hayes fears his untoward secret feelings for his sister. This rich backstory is intercut with scenes of his soul-altering hours on the march and at the front—the slaughter of barely grown young men who only days before whooped it up with him in a regimental ball game; his temporary deafness and disorientation after a shell blast; his fevered attempt to find safe haven after he has been deserted by his own comrades—and, later, in a Washington military hospital, where he finds himself mute and unable even to write his name. In this twilit realm, among the people he encounters—including a compassionate drug-addicted amputee, the ward matron who only appears to be his enemy, and the captain who is convinced that Hayes is faking his illness—is a gray-bearded eccentric who visits the ward daily and becomes Hayes’s strongest Walt Whitman. This timeless story, whose outcome hinges on friendships forged in crisis, reminds us that the injuries of war are manifold, and the healing goodness in the human soul runs deep and strong.
336 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2013
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1191 people want to read
About the author
Dennis McFarland
25 books37 followersA 1975 Brooklyn College graduate, McFarland also attended and later taught at Goddard College and Stanford University. At Stanford, McFarland worked as teacher of creative writing from 1981 to 1986. His fiction has appeared in Best American Short Stories and The New Yorker. McFarland is married Michelle Simons, and together they have two children. He lives with his family in Massachussetts.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 121 reviews
October 22, 2025
A Novel Of The Civil War, Walt Whitman, And Redemption
Dennis McFarland's "Nostalgia" (2013) is a deeply textured historical novel of the Civil War, a portrayal of America, and a coming of age story. The portions of the book that describe combat are set in the horrific Battle of the Wilderness in May 1864. Ulysses Grant had assumed his role of commander of all the Union Armies and had assumed immediate command of the Army of the Potomac. The Battle of the Wilderness began Grant's Overland Campaign which, with terrible slaughter, led the following year to Appomattox.
The book tells the story of Summerfield Hayes, 19. Hayes lives in Brooklyn with his sister, Sarah, 21 in a comfortable home with two servants. Hayes is devoted to playing the new game of baseball ("base ball"), described and praised exhaustively throughout the book. Summerfield's and Sarah's parents had died in 1860, three years before the story begins, leaving the brother and sister emotionally dependent on one another. Late in 1863, young Hayes becomes increasingly alarmed at his feelings for his sister. He enlists, leaving his sister alone, and receives his first combat experience in the slaughter of the Wilderness. McFarland describes the slaughter of the battle and the troop movements in detail and with fury. Hayes suffers wounding and shock. He loses his hearing. He is left behind as his comrades press forward after the battle.
The Union forces eventually find Hayes and take him to a military hospital in Washington, D.C. McFarland again has done his research and offers a convincing, realistic portrayal of the fetid hospitals which killed as often as they healed. The nature of Hayes' condition baffles the staff. Hayes cannot speak or write and his physical wounds, if any, appear superficial. Some of the military personnel on hand accuse him of malingering. McFarland makes clear at the outset that he is describing what today is called post-traumatic stress disorder. But the book is no mere clinical account, as McFarland tells the story with dramatic tension and develops a series of characters, including the doctors, nurses, aides, and other severely wounded men in the hospital. Walt Whitman becomes the most captivating figure in the novel as he visits and comforts the soldiers and takes a particular interest in Hayes. Whitman brings life to the novel in a way that McFarland did not initially foresee. In a brief afterward, he writes of Whitman:
"Fiction writers are often chagrined by how characters, given any kind of a decent chance, appear to evolve on their own terms; they refuse to bend to our will and turn out very different from how we conceived them. Never have I felt so controlled by a character as I did by Walt Whitman. ... [H]is spirit, intent on being cast in the best possible light, seemed to elude my every effort to darken him."
McFarland develops his story is an evocative, episodic way that captures Hayes' condition. The shifts in time and place in the several chapters takes some getting used to. Particularly early in the book, extensive scenes take place in Hayes' mind as he lies on the forest floor of the Wilderness with events of his life in Brooklyn and in combat running through his mind.
The book is beautifully thought through and tightly written. Each of the three basic settings of the story, Brooklyn, the hospital, and the Wilderness get well developed with a group of accompanying characters. Through the person of Whitman, McFarland offers a tough mindedly optimistic picture of the United States. Whitman's vision and love, the novel suggests, offers a path to the redemption of both Summerfield Hayes and of the United States following the Civil War.
Robin Friedman
Dennis McFarland's "Nostalgia" (2013) is a deeply textured historical novel of the Civil War, a portrayal of America, and a coming of age story. The portions of the book that describe combat are set in the horrific Battle of the Wilderness in May 1864. Ulysses Grant had assumed his role of commander of all the Union Armies and had assumed immediate command of the Army of the Potomac. The Battle of the Wilderness began Grant's Overland Campaign which, with terrible slaughter, led the following year to Appomattox.
The book tells the story of Summerfield Hayes, 19. Hayes lives in Brooklyn with his sister, Sarah, 21 in a comfortable home with two servants. Hayes is devoted to playing the new game of baseball ("base ball"), described and praised exhaustively throughout the book. Summerfield's and Sarah's parents had died in 1860, three years before the story begins, leaving the brother and sister emotionally dependent on one another. Late in 1863, young Hayes becomes increasingly alarmed at his feelings for his sister. He enlists, leaving his sister alone, and receives his first combat experience in the slaughter of the Wilderness. McFarland describes the slaughter of the battle and the troop movements in detail and with fury. Hayes suffers wounding and shock. He loses his hearing. He is left behind as his comrades press forward after the battle.
The Union forces eventually find Hayes and take him to a military hospital in Washington, D.C. McFarland again has done his research and offers a convincing, realistic portrayal of the fetid hospitals which killed as often as they healed. The nature of Hayes' condition baffles the staff. Hayes cannot speak or write and his physical wounds, if any, appear superficial. Some of the military personnel on hand accuse him of malingering. McFarland makes clear at the outset that he is describing what today is called post-traumatic stress disorder. But the book is no mere clinical account, as McFarland tells the story with dramatic tension and develops a series of characters, including the doctors, nurses, aides, and other severely wounded men in the hospital. Walt Whitman becomes the most captivating figure in the novel as he visits and comforts the soldiers and takes a particular interest in Hayes. Whitman brings life to the novel in a way that McFarland did not initially foresee. In a brief afterward, he writes of Whitman:
"Fiction writers are often chagrined by how characters, given any kind of a decent chance, appear to evolve on their own terms; they refuse to bend to our will and turn out very different from how we conceived them. Never have I felt so controlled by a character as I did by Walt Whitman. ... [H]is spirit, intent on being cast in the best possible light, seemed to elude my every effort to darken him."
McFarland develops his story is an evocative, episodic way that captures Hayes' condition. The shifts in time and place in the several chapters takes some getting used to. Particularly early in the book, extensive scenes take place in Hayes' mind as he lies on the forest floor of the Wilderness with events of his life in Brooklyn and in combat running through his mind.
The book is beautifully thought through and tightly written. Each of the three basic settings of the story, Brooklyn, the hospital, and the Wilderness get well developed with a group of accompanying characters. Through the person of Whitman, McFarland offers a tough mindedly optimistic picture of the United States. Whitman's vision and love, the novel suggests, offers a path to the redemption of both Summerfield Hayes and of the United States following the Civil War.
Robin Friedman
October 21, 2013
Dennis McFarland's new novel Nostalgia, is the product of an outstandingly empathetic mind. This is a writer who truly knows us, especially the unanswered questions that manipulate our lives. As a work of historical fiction, this stands in a very select company. It succeeds as a brilliant re-telling of the typical Union conscript's soul-numbing experiences during one of the most destructive, protracted battles of the Civil War. It stands as a compelling study of the oddly dis-connected times when the lives of citizens in cities only slightly removed from the carnage, could continue as if the war was on the other side of the world. It stands as one of the most effectively brutal re-creations of Civil War Hospital convalescence I have yet read, and it stands as the most touching recreation of Walt Whitman's ministrations to the injured soldiers I may ever read. In addition, the author's use of nineteenth century baseball as a conduit into our modern age is brilliant and absorbing.
Nostalgia, in the title, so effectively dissected according to it's etymology in the opening pages, actually refers equally to the diagnosis of the time for what is now, finally understood as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. The author's meticulous journey into the mind of Private Hayes brings this disorder into clear focus. We are left wondering why our society continues to make the same large-scale mistakes again and again, despite experience telling us there is another way. The surprising yet completely believable fate of a young Brooklyn ballplayer, gone to war, sets a very high standard for fiction yet to be written about the period.
In the Afterward, the author muses about the ways a character can control the telling of his story. In this case, I believe that Walt Whitman himself must have stood just a step behind McFarland during the writing, whispering into his ear, from time to time, to make sure he got it right. He did.
Nostalgia, in the title, so effectively dissected according to it's etymology in the opening pages, actually refers equally to the diagnosis of the time for what is now, finally understood as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. The author's meticulous journey into the mind of Private Hayes brings this disorder into clear focus. We are left wondering why our society continues to make the same large-scale mistakes again and again, despite experience telling us there is another way. The surprising yet completely believable fate of a young Brooklyn ballplayer, gone to war, sets a very high standard for fiction yet to be written about the period.
In the Afterward, the author muses about the ways a character can control the telling of his story. In this case, I believe that Walt Whitman himself must have stood just a step behind McFarland during the writing, whispering into his ear, from time to time, to make sure he got it right. He did.
January 4, 2014
Nostalgia is either the third or fourth book by McFarland that I've read. I liked the others but I loved Nostalgia. It's an introspective Civil War novel told from 19 year old Summerfield Hayes's perspective. It truly gives voice to the phenomenon known as soldier's heart or battle fatigue or PTSD. To the extent that anyone can be emotionally adept at navigating war Summerfield is completely without resources. He's a quiet boy/man who loves to read and play base ball. He and his beloved sister have also recently had another tragedy in their young lives which pushes toward a drastic solution to a problem that wouldn't even be an issue if he had someone to guide him. In desperation he joins the army. The action in the book pivots between the battlefield and the hospital where he's recovering from his wounds with the added bonus of Walt Whitman's appearance as Summerfield's champion.
McFarland's narrative walks a narrow line between angst vs. realism. Even the magical realism parts are well drawn and without schmaltz. I've read some professional reviews that say the parts set off the battlefield lag. I did not find this to be the case. The writing is inspired and subtly beautiful though it's spare. This was one of my favorite books for 2013.
This review is based on an advance reader's copy provided by the publisher.
(Disclaimer included as required by the FTC.)
McFarland's narrative walks a narrow line between angst vs. realism. Even the magical realism parts are well drawn and without schmaltz. I've read some professional reviews that say the parts set off the battlefield lag. I did not find this to be the case. The writing is inspired and subtly beautiful though it's spare. This was one of my favorite books for 2013.
This review is based on an advance reader's copy provided by the publisher.
(Disclaimer included as required by the FTC.)
December 14, 2019
In early 1864 nineteen year old Summerfield Hayes decides to leave behind Brooklyn, his older sister, and baseball – sort of – by enlisting in the Union Army. This “choice” just in time for Grant’s Overland Campaign in Virginia and specifically the opening salvo, The Battle of the Wilderness. It’s not exactly clear why the young Mr. Hayes makes this drastic decision – patriotism, a need to distance himself from his sister, adventure – yet he does. Nor in fact is much else apparent here except that war is a brutal and bloody experience, severely impacting those who serve, i.e. PTSD, battle fatigue, shell shock or in the 19th Century vernacular, “nostalgia”. By all means a worthy topic and particularly timely considering the mental state – and suicide rate – of our returning servicemen and women. But unfortunately neither the narrative nor the characters do the topic justice – the tone of Nostalgia more of a drone than a ballad.
The storyline intertwines three temporal threads - Summerfield’s time just before enlisting, his brief stint in uniform and then his recovery – all in all encompassing a little more than half a year. The mechanics of telling the story this way is fairly neat, as the reader assembles or pieces it together much like a puzzle. Unfortunately for this reader, what became clear early on was that the puzzle is all one color – thus becoming repetitive and losing significance – and the reader’s interest - as each “new piece” is added. Adding to this narrative drift – despite the reader spending a lot of time with the main characters, particularly Summerfield, it is difficult to empathize with them – not for lack of compassion - but simply because one never gets to know them.
And although young Summerfield is the focus, the real life historical Walt Whitman crowds the star here - a compassionate, good, empathetic, all-knowing, almost “holy” presence. And intentionally or not, Whitman monopolizes the stage once introduced during Summerfield’s recovery in a DC hospital. But he too proves a disappointment in the end providing little or no guidance/direction to this tale.
(An interesting tidbit concerning Whitman - which the author mentions in his “Afterward/Acknowledgements” - much of what we know of Walt is courtesy of Walt. Mr. Whitman had an extraordinary way with words; in his prose, poetry and particularly his personal “recollections”.)
Unfortunately Nostalgia is just a “one of many” Civil War novels. The pacing is very slow, the narrative at times unnecessarily confusing, and in the end – unsatisfying – with very little enlightenment let alone resolution for the stock set of characters here. Even a brief moment of sunshine for our hero on a baseball diamond – a “summer field” get it? – falls flat, foreshadowed so persistently and continuously it’s anticlimactic. Hard-nosed I know, but I’ve very much enjoyed several of this author’s previous novels and I found this one disappointing.
The storyline intertwines three temporal threads - Summerfield’s time just before enlisting, his brief stint in uniform and then his recovery – all in all encompassing a little more than half a year. The mechanics of telling the story this way is fairly neat, as the reader assembles or pieces it together much like a puzzle. Unfortunately for this reader, what became clear early on was that the puzzle is all one color – thus becoming repetitive and losing significance – and the reader’s interest - as each “new piece” is added. Adding to this narrative drift – despite the reader spending a lot of time with the main characters, particularly Summerfield, it is difficult to empathize with them – not for lack of compassion - but simply because one never gets to know them.
And although young Summerfield is the focus, the real life historical Walt Whitman crowds the star here - a compassionate, good, empathetic, all-knowing, almost “holy” presence. And intentionally or not, Whitman monopolizes the stage once introduced during Summerfield’s recovery in a DC hospital. But he too proves a disappointment in the end providing little or no guidance/direction to this tale.
(An interesting tidbit concerning Whitman - which the author mentions in his “Afterward/Acknowledgements” - much of what we know of Walt is courtesy of Walt. Mr. Whitman had an extraordinary way with words; in his prose, poetry and particularly his personal “recollections”.)
Unfortunately Nostalgia is just a “one of many” Civil War novels. The pacing is very slow, the narrative at times unnecessarily confusing, and in the end – unsatisfying – with very little enlightenment let alone resolution for the stock set of characters here. Even a brief moment of sunshine for our hero on a baseball diamond – a “summer field” get it? – falls flat, foreshadowed so persistently and continuously it’s anticlimactic. Hard-nosed I know, but I’ve very much enjoyed several of this author’s previous novels and I found this one disappointing.
November 29, 2013
If I could give this novel ten stars I would. I'm a huge fan of Dennis Mcfarland. One of the rare writers out there who writes with heart, brain, soul, and with such understated not show-offy style. I was drawn in reluctantly. The topic, the Civil War, with a sprinkling of baseball thrown in, didn't grab me immediately. So I figured, I'll read it for the exquisite writing I was sure to find. The sentences were so true I took out my pen and kept underlining. But then I threw away my pen because the story took over -- Hayes' beautiful yet troubled relationship with his sister, the battle scenes so unusually and nightmarishly described I dreamed about them, his abandonment by his comrades on the battle field, his recuperation in the hospital, how he is rendered mute, not only by the horrors of what he experienced in battle, but by his terrible situation: If his identity is revealed he will be falsely accused of desertion and will likely face death. His hospital mates are the near dead and the amputated. Into this bleakness comes a visitor of great compassion and humor, Walt Whitman. Can a person write paragraphs that somehow make you feel more human? If I could recommend a single book to read in the next two years, this is the one.
September 2, 2013
I gave this book 3 stars because I was torn between 3 and 4. I think 3 1/2 would be accurate.
I thought the book started slowly and was hard to get into, but since I won the book I wanted to finish. After forcing myself through the first chapter (71 pages), the book was definitely more interesting and I flew through the it at a fairly fast pace. I wouldn't say it's a "page turner" but since it skips around it was easy to keep reading so I could find out what was happening.
Overall, I would say it is a good book. The parts about the battle and hospital were especially interesting.
I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading books from the civil war era.
I thought the book started slowly and was hard to get into, but since I won the book I wanted to finish. After forcing myself through the first chapter (71 pages), the book was definitely more interesting and I flew through the it at a fairly fast pace. I wouldn't say it's a "page turner" but since it skips around it was easy to keep reading so I could find out what was happening.
Overall, I would say it is a good book. The parts about the battle and hospital were especially interesting.
I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading books from the civil war era.
September 21, 2013
I received Nostalgia in a Goodreads first-reads giveaway. The book caught my interest because of the Civil War setting and I was excited to start reading. This story was unlike any I've read before, being on the battlefield, and later in the hospital with Summerfield opened my eyes to the horrific struggles of the men and women during this time. Unlike most books I've read about the Civil War discussing generals and troops, Nostalgia put me there with one soldier and his experiences...at times I was as confused as he was and realized that the author transported me to a very different time and place.
December 11, 2013
I received Nostalgia in a Goodreads first-reads giveaway. It started out slow in the beginning. Once I got into the meat of the story I couldn't put it down. I fell in love with Summerfield Hayes! I love books that have great character development and vivid descriptions. This book painted a picture that completely enveloped me and had me in the moment. I would definitely recommend this book!
May 30, 2016
Stunning, beautifully and lyrically written novel of the Civil War. At turns both harrowing and elegiac. And with Walt Whitman as a character, too.
February 13, 2015
In 1864, nineteen-year-old Union Army private, orphan at sixteen and star New York City baseball pitcher Summerfield Hayes finds himself wounded by an artillery concussion and abandoned on the battlefield by his comrades. His first four days of battle, in Grant’s bloody Wilderness campaign, are more horrific than he could have imagined, but he acquits himself well. After wandering through an after-battle purgatory, Hayes finds himself in a Washington military hospital--stripped of his identity and his ability to speak. Although has an interesting backstory (Hayes believes he has “an unnatural regard” for his older sister), NOSTALGIA is mainly about the universality of PTSD to the combat experience. The narrative is more about healing & recovery than destruction, despite some riveting battle scenes. To contemporary readers, it’s an incontrovertible premise that “not all wounds bleed” (p94), but the Civil War was an era when the symptoms of psychological trauma were misunderstood as cowardice or malingering. Also, McFarland dramatically shows how the overloaded military hospital and its staff are as potentially deadly to Hayes as the battlefield.
The most memorable character in NOSTALGIA is poet Walt Whitman--who calls himself “a soldier’s missionary” (p218)--selflessly devoted to nursing these wounded warriors to spiritual rejuvenation as much as to physical health. Fascinated by the mute Hayes, Whitman is empathetic, succoring, wise, with a quality of “maternal maleness”--exactly as most former English majors would want him to be depicted. McFarland, a new author to me who I’ll probably try again, utterly charmed me with his portrait of the Good Gray Poet.
NOSTALGIA is a memorable treatment of the immediate aftermath of war and a soldier’s mind overwhelmed by ghosts. (For a uniquely Southern version of this theme, I recommend THE YEAR OF JUBILO by Howard Bahr.)
The most memorable character in NOSTALGIA is poet Walt Whitman--who calls himself “a soldier’s missionary” (p218)--selflessly devoted to nursing these wounded warriors to spiritual rejuvenation as much as to physical health. Fascinated by the mute Hayes, Whitman is empathetic, succoring, wise, with a quality of “maternal maleness”--exactly as most former English majors would want him to be depicted. McFarland, a new author to me who I’ll probably try again, utterly charmed me with his portrait of the Good Gray Poet.
NOSTALGIA is a memorable treatment of the immediate aftermath of war and a soldier’s mind overwhelmed by ghosts. (For a uniquely Southern version of this theme, I recommend THE YEAR OF JUBILO by Howard Bahr.)
May 18, 2014
War novels are often grizzly, sometimes overly sentimental and often one dimensional. Not this novel. It is a perfect balance of engaging story, character development, caring and a head-on confrontation with the horrors of war both during and after the event. Summerfield Hays goes off to fight for the Union in the American Civil War at the age of 19. Although the fighting for him is short the intensity and impact are devastating. What was then called nostalgia and is now called PTSD is described with delicacy and precision The story teller expertly weaves in impersonal brutality, kindness, shock, narrow-minded pro-military pressure, early adulthood angst and the healing powers of acceptance.
October 29, 2015
There's nothing as comforting as spending a half-week with your people, then extending the conversation.
December 6, 2017
Nostalgia
Dennis McFarland
Summerfield Hayes is a star baseball pitcher and hitter. He lives with his older sister Sarah; their parents died recently. Perhaps caught up in civil war patriotism, Summerfield enlists, to the dismay of Sarah. Will she be left without any family?
After much marching, poor food, and confusion, Summerfield and his company finally join the battle. It is chaos, filled with noise, smoke, explosions, death, and disfigurement. His senses are overloaded. He is caught in no-mans-land, wounded, and later left for dead. "Take his rifle" said a Sargent as others move out. Numb, wounded, half awake, half dreamlike, Summerfield tried to rejoin his company and make sense of what happened.
In hospital, He can hear but cannot speak. He is diagnosed as nostalgia, a longing for home, but with pain, Summerfield and others don't even know what is real or not. His mind is a mixture of memory, imagination, and the here and now. Worse, he sometimes cannot tell what is real and what is not.
While some Army officers are desperately trying to get all able-bodied men back into battle, some of the doctors have an understanding of nostalgia, and have their own underground railway to help those who desperately need it.
We may have often heard the words "post traumatic stress syndrome", "shell shock", or "battle fatigue", but have not had a good idea of what that meant or how it is manifest. This story provides that example in a calm, vivid, very understandable way.
The story ends with Summerfield back home, playing baseball, superficially recovering, until he has a meltdown. His teammates understand, and the future is uncertain, but hopeful.
Although this is fiction, one of the characters is a historically accurate hospital volunteer: Walt Whitman, who provided help and understanding to those in need.
Page 211, while in hospital:
"There was a time, back in Brooklyn, when his sister had tilted her head ever so slightly and given him a look that seemed to say Who are you? Now Anne tilts her head similarly but looks at him with bone-deep empathy. Astonishing him, she scrapes with one bare knuckle the tears from her cheeks and rubs them onto his.
'War paint,' she whispers, drawing a wet line straight down beneath each of his eyes."
Dennis McFarland
Summerfield Hayes is a star baseball pitcher and hitter. He lives with his older sister Sarah; their parents died recently. Perhaps caught up in civil war patriotism, Summerfield enlists, to the dismay of Sarah. Will she be left without any family?
After much marching, poor food, and confusion, Summerfield and his company finally join the battle. It is chaos, filled with noise, smoke, explosions, death, and disfigurement. His senses are overloaded. He is caught in no-mans-land, wounded, and later left for dead. "Take his rifle" said a Sargent as others move out. Numb, wounded, half awake, half dreamlike, Summerfield tried to rejoin his company and make sense of what happened.
In hospital, He can hear but cannot speak. He is diagnosed as nostalgia, a longing for home, but with pain, Summerfield and others don't even know what is real or not. His mind is a mixture of memory, imagination, and the here and now. Worse, he sometimes cannot tell what is real and what is not.
While some Army officers are desperately trying to get all able-bodied men back into battle, some of the doctors have an understanding of nostalgia, and have their own underground railway to help those who desperately need it.
We may have often heard the words "post traumatic stress syndrome", "shell shock", or "battle fatigue", but have not had a good idea of what that meant or how it is manifest. This story provides that example in a calm, vivid, very understandable way.
The story ends with Summerfield back home, playing baseball, superficially recovering, until he has a meltdown. His teammates understand, and the future is uncertain, but hopeful.
Although this is fiction, one of the characters is a historically accurate hospital volunteer: Walt Whitman, who provided help and understanding to those in need.
Page 211, while in hospital:
"There was a time, back in Brooklyn, when his sister had tilted her head ever so slightly and given him a look that seemed to say Who are you? Now Anne tilts her head similarly but looks at him with bone-deep empathy. Astonishing him, she scrapes with one bare knuckle the tears from her cheeks and rubs them onto his.
'War paint,' she whispers, drawing a wet line straight down beneath each of his eyes."
November 11, 2022
I have mixed feelings about this novel. While it is well written, I really didn’t care for the way in which McFarland used the third person omniscient narrator. He has two different narrative voices - one is the omniscient narrator who stands outside sharing his observations about the protagonist, and the second is within the main character and relating the character’s mental processes.
If one is looking for a catharsis as the novel ends, I don’t know that one will experience that sort of satisfaction.
The detail regarding the battle in The Wilderness is well done, the personal struggles of those who fought there are well conceived, and I would give McFarland five stars for historical accuracy.
The use of Walt Whitman as a secondary character is interesting, and I think that Whitman’s character and his actions during the war as portrayed in the novel are very much in tune with what we know of the man and his mission.
So, four stars if you are looking for a psychological exploration of PTSD in the 19th century..
If one is looking for a catharsis as the novel ends, I don’t know that one will experience that sort of satisfaction.
The detail regarding the battle in The Wilderness is well done, the personal struggles of those who fought there are well conceived, and I would give McFarland five stars for historical accuracy.
The use of Walt Whitman as a secondary character is interesting, and I think that Whitman’s character and his actions during the war as portrayed in the novel are very much in tune with what we know of the man and his mission.
So, four stars if you are looking for a psychological exploration of PTSD in the 19th century..
December 31, 2024
At first I thought this book had a slow start, filled with details. So glad I kept reading. After the last page I went back and read the first couple chapters again. Summerfield Hayes and his sister have lost their parents in a tragic accident. The year is 1864. Summerfield, a baseball player worries about his extreme, perhaps infatuation with his sister and decides it best for him to join the troops. After extremely horrid battles he loses many friends and is wounded and loses his way. He is left behind by his company. Ends up in a hospital with what is known as nostalgia. Now it's known as PTSD. He can't speak nor write. A frequent visitor to him at the hospital known only as Walt has a profound influence on him. I eventually put together that it is Walt Whitman and I'm affected too by some really intense sentences.
August 18, 2021
This was okay. There were portions of the book that I enjoyed very much, especially the section dealing with the Battle of the Wilderness and when Hayes is in the hospital in Washington. But there are also great lengths of this book that I found dull. And it took my an incredibly long time to even start enjoying the book, well over 70 pages. It's a good story and touches on a topic (PTSD in the Civil War) that isn't addressed all that often. But I just feel it didn't stick the landing.
March 1, 2018
This is a beautifully written and highly atmospheric story of the immense tragedy of the Civil War, and how it effects a young man's psychological life.
There are some very interesting, thoughtful and compelling passages, however, It was slow to start, and I didn't really get engaged until the last third of the book.
There are some very interesting, thoughtful and compelling passages, however, It was slow to start, and I didn't really get engaged until the last third of the book.
March 26, 2018
A 19 year old young man spends 3 days in the Civil War before succumbing to PTSD, hospitalization, and a rocky return back to civilization. A beautifully crafted book addressing a man's response to the horrific battles of a war in the 1860's and a civilization's lack of understanding of PTSD. Am extremely glad to have read this novel.
April 11, 2023
Well written fictional account of a Civil War soldier, Summerfield Hayes', post-traumatic stress injury suffered during the Battle of the Wilderness in May 1864 in Virginia, and how it affected him and all those who came in contact with him.
Dennis McFarland illustrates how this little known injury affected so many Civil War Veterans and their loved ones after the war.
Dennis McFarland illustrates how this little known injury affected so many Civil War Veterans and their loved ones after the war.
June 15, 2020
This book was so beautifully written. The characters were complex and the language eloquent. It was a pleasure to read, despite the horrors of battle and the aftermath described. I am eager to read more by this author.
June 11, 2017
Top-notch writing, though-provoking prose. A brutal look at the casualties of war and the survivors who are never the same. Family, friendship, baseball. Worth the time.
February 16, 2018
Great book. I love that it was based on a real battle. Wonderfully written.
March 6, 2018
Well-written civil war story but I didn't care.
March 25, 2018
I got to 25% and just couldn't go on. It wasn't the writing. I just wasn't into it.
August 21, 2018
I listened to this while driving and honestly didn't find it engaging enough. If I had been reading it I don't think I would have made it more than 20 pages in.
September 18, 2018
DNF. Could have gotten into character but gratuitous descriptions turned me off.
February 2, 2019
A beautiful, heart-piercing book that deserves to be read and reread.
July 17, 2022
A little slow to start, but once it gets going it’s absolutely heartbreaking and subtle.
July 25, 2014
This review first appeared in WroteTrips
Novels about baseball aren’t new. Novels about the Civil War aren’t new. But in Nostalgia, Dennis McFarland blends the two themes and creates a unique coming of age story. Injured, lost and left-behind, 19-year old Summerfield Hayes stumbles through deadly terrain in the aftermath of the bloody war of attrition at the Battle of the Wilderness. The dense underbrush of Spotsylvania County, VA, proved difficult for both the North and South to navigate, and the battle was fought to a draw. McFarland’s evocative, empathetic and lyrical prose skillfully depicts the beauty and horror of America’s mid-1800 history.
Battle of the Wilderness by Kurz and Allison
In spite of his privileged background, Hayes chose to enlist rather than avoid the Union Army draft. His enlistment is an escape from the life he shares with his older sister in the home left to them after the death of their parents. As a soldier, he befriends a variety of men from different social backgrounds, and gains a new perspective on life.
Ellwood Manor, built in 1790, is the last remaining structure from the Battle of the Wilderness still standing today. (Via Wikipedia)
During the winter of 1864, Summerfield Hayes, played baseball for the Eckford Club. His passion for the game, and his skill at pitching initially give Hayes a naive, innocent appeal. Once he goes to war, however, and uses his baseball prowess to make friends, McFarland’s narrative overlays the popular 19th century sport with the deadly game of war.
In the mid-19th century, baseball was played by different rules than modern baseball. It was also the custom for fielders play barehanded, without gloves.
If baseball or history is your passion, there are a surprising number of venues at which you can see clubs play. Gettysburg, PA hosts a National 19th Century Base Ball Festival, and this year 18 clubs will compete in the two day event from July 19-20, 2014.
If you are not able to make it to the Gettysburg Festival, the Flemington Neshanock Base Ball Club plays at different events. They consider themselves to be “Civil War re-enactors,” except they use a bat and ball instead of rifles and bayonets. Check their website for their schedule. Other clubs are listed on the Gettysburg National 19th Century Base Ball Festival site.
The Flemington Neshanock - 2011. Courtesy of The Flemington Neshanock
The original Flemington Neshanock were established in July 1866 and comprised mainly of the town’s prominent constituents. The President was George F. Crater, owner of the Crater’s Hotel, now the site of the Union Hotel. Other notable members include E. Vosseller (VP and short stop), R. S. Kuhl (Captain) and E. Page Southwick (Secretary and catcher).
For More Information:
Battle of Wilderness National Park
http://www.nps.gov/frsp/wilder.htm
Destination Gettysburg
http://www.destinationgettysburg.com/...
The Flemington Neshanock Base Ball Club
http://www.neshanock.org/
Fredericksburg, VA Tourism
http://www.visitfred.com/
Gettysburg National 19th Century Base Ball Festival
http://gettysburgbaseballfestival.com/
Virginia Tourism
http://www.virginia.org/
Nostalgia
Dennis McFarland
Hardcover: 336 pages
Publisher: Pantheon; 1st Edition, 1st Printing edition (October 1, 2013)
I received a complimentary First Reads ARC of this novel; I did not receive compensation for this review.
May 6, 2017
Nostalgia by Dennis McFarland offers an engrossing read about a gripping time in American history. Using the backdrop of the Civil War, the author is able to craft a coming-of-age tale that examines Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and the invisible wounds that can haunt a person.
The Battle of the Wilderness was fought over three days in May 1864 in the woods of Virginia, and was the first clash between the armies of Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee. Because each side received such heavy losses, there was no clear winner.
The reader is first introduced to 19-year-old Summerfield Hayes, mute, wounded and abandoned by the rest of his outfit. Hayes struggles to stay lucid as he tiredly tries to make his way home to New York, all the while afraid he will be captured by the Union Army and accused of desertion. Slowly the story begins to unfold by weaving back and forth through time.
Three main narrative threads are established—Hayes’ life at home before his enlistment, his time as a private in the Army of the Potomac through his first battle, and his struggle to survive and recover. McFarland masterfully entwines these various narratives, so that it is never confusing for the reader to follow.
Hayes came from a comfortable family, and was the star pitcher of the popular Eckford Baseball Club. His beautiful sister, Sarah, is two years older and teaches schoolchildren. They are the only family they have left, having been orphaned a couple years previously. As such, they share an incredibly close bond.
Sarah is extremely hurt and angry when her brother volunteers for the army. What she doesn’t understand—because Hayes is terrified to tell her—is the true reason for his enlistment. Hayes fears his untoward feelings for his sister, and even more so that she might reciprocate them.
However, the relatively sheltered youth has no idea what to expect when he goes to serve his country, and what he witnesses breaks him. Modern audiences know about PTSD, but in the 19th century there was little understanding of “Nostalgia,” as it was called then. A large portion of the novel describes Hayes’ struggle to overcome his disability, without much help, until he encounters the poet Walt Whitman, who really was a volunteer nurse during the Civil War.
A major theme of the novel is healing. Hayes already had a lot of grief that still haunted him, like the loss of his parents and the kind of love he had for his sister. Unfortunately, he thought fighting for the Union would help him get past it by avoidance, but instead it just added to it with everything he witnessed from warfare. The last portion of the story sees if it really is possible for Hayes to heal and overcome.
The first act of the book begins sluggishly, just like Hayes’ mind and body feels. As he reflects back on how he got where he was, the anticipation builds the closer the battle gets. McFarland offers lyrical prose as he describes Hayes’ home life, baseball, and encampments. When what transpired over those three days in Wilderness is revealed, it is truly horrific.
Despite the bleak subject matter, the novel still offers much humor. This is often demonstrated through the camaraderie between Hayes and his fellow soldiers and veterans.
Dennis McFarland’s Nostalgia is a well-written historical novel about the American Civil War. It follows a fascinating lead character in Hayes, who is still really relatable to 21st century readers. The story of Summerfield Hayes will surely become a classic, and should be consumed by all fans of literature.
The Battle of the Wilderness was fought over three days in May 1864 in the woods of Virginia, and was the first clash between the armies of Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee. Because each side received such heavy losses, there was no clear winner.
The reader is first introduced to 19-year-old Summerfield Hayes, mute, wounded and abandoned by the rest of his outfit. Hayes struggles to stay lucid as he tiredly tries to make his way home to New York, all the while afraid he will be captured by the Union Army and accused of desertion. Slowly the story begins to unfold by weaving back and forth through time.
Three main narrative threads are established—Hayes’ life at home before his enlistment, his time as a private in the Army of the Potomac through his first battle, and his struggle to survive and recover. McFarland masterfully entwines these various narratives, so that it is never confusing for the reader to follow.
Hayes came from a comfortable family, and was the star pitcher of the popular Eckford Baseball Club. His beautiful sister, Sarah, is two years older and teaches schoolchildren. They are the only family they have left, having been orphaned a couple years previously. As such, they share an incredibly close bond.
Sarah is extremely hurt and angry when her brother volunteers for the army. What she doesn’t understand—because Hayes is terrified to tell her—is the true reason for his enlistment. Hayes fears his untoward feelings for his sister, and even more so that she might reciprocate them.
However, the relatively sheltered youth has no idea what to expect when he goes to serve his country, and what he witnesses breaks him. Modern audiences know about PTSD, but in the 19th century there was little understanding of “Nostalgia,” as it was called then. A large portion of the novel describes Hayes’ struggle to overcome his disability, without much help, until he encounters the poet Walt Whitman, who really was a volunteer nurse during the Civil War.
A major theme of the novel is healing. Hayes already had a lot of grief that still haunted him, like the loss of his parents and the kind of love he had for his sister. Unfortunately, he thought fighting for the Union would help him get past it by avoidance, but instead it just added to it with everything he witnessed from warfare. The last portion of the story sees if it really is possible for Hayes to heal and overcome.
The first act of the book begins sluggishly, just like Hayes’ mind and body feels. As he reflects back on how he got where he was, the anticipation builds the closer the battle gets. McFarland offers lyrical prose as he describes Hayes’ home life, baseball, and encampments. When what transpired over those three days in Wilderness is revealed, it is truly horrific.
Despite the bleak subject matter, the novel still offers much humor. This is often demonstrated through the camaraderie between Hayes and his fellow soldiers and veterans.
Dennis McFarland’s Nostalgia is a well-written historical novel about the American Civil War. It follows a fascinating lead character in Hayes, who is still really relatable to 21st century readers. The story of Summerfield Hayes will surely become a classic, and should be consumed by all fans of literature.
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