Kindred Souls

MacLachlan traces the story of ten-year-old Jake's relationship with his grandfather, Billy. This is a farming family, and Billy, aged eighty-eight, still lives on the land where he was born. The story addresses time-sculpted themes--the bond between a child and a grandparent, death and connection to the natural world--and MacLachlan gives them her particular stamp of plain speaking and poetry.

In seventeen short chapters MacLachlan traces the final act in the story of ten-year-old Jake's relationship with his grandfather, Billy. This is a farming family and Billy, aged eighty-eight, still lives on the land where he was born. All is predictable, benign, idyllic -- hummingbirds and new baby calves, shared chores and family jokes. The first sign that change is afoot comes in the mysterious arrival of a stray dog, a dog that glues herself to Billy. Shortly after this arrival, Billy falls ill, and Jake decides to build a sod house for his grandfather, to welcome him home from the hospital, to remind him of the sod house of his childhood. The whole family gets involved, and they finish the construction just in time for Billy's return. It turns out, however, that the sod house was not to be the place for Billy to live, but rather the place where he could die. The touch of magic hangs in the air as the dog disappears and we hear a rumor of a stray dog turning up at the home of an ailing woman in the next town. These are time-sculpted themes -- the bond between a child and a grandparent, a child's first experience of death, the comfort of continuity and connection to the natural world -- and MacLachlan gives them her particular stamp of plain speaking and poetry. sarah ellis