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Willem's Field: A Novel
What are the limitations of what we do and don't know about our hearts? Oprah Book Club author Melinda Haynes, hailed as "the real thing, a true artist, a genuine writer" (the Cleveland Plain Dealer) for her bestselling debut, Mother of Pearl, returns with a tender, heartbreaking, and occasionally hilarious novel set in the 1970s. Willem Fremont has spent his adult life held tight inside the clenched fist of panic disorder. Determined to break the pattern -- even as he reaches his twilight years -- Willem returns to his childhood home in Purvis, Mississippi, where he believes the solution lies. There he discovers his father's acreage in the hands of the idiosyncratic Till family. Eilene, mother of Sonny and Bruno and "no bigger than a dress form," pretends to be deaf as a way of dealing with her grown boys -- each of whom suffers from inertia. Sonny, hugely fat, perennially unemployed, and looking for love, is building a shrimp boat in his mother's landlocked backyard. Bruno, who has returned from Vietnam with a spinal injury and wearing a brace, escapes into the glossy pages of old National Geographics while his wife, Leah, tries to find a small measure of comfort in the day-to-day tending of their farm. From these unsettled lives comes a story of reconciliation against all odds and a vision of rekindled love as well as a compassionate portrait of small-town life that celebrates the unusual, embraces the unwanted, and opens its arms to all lost souls in search of a home. Steeped in the traditions of great southern storytellers like Flannery O'Connor and William Faulkner, Willem's Field is nonetheless a wholly original and vividly imaginative novel by a brilliant and assured writer.
400 pages, Hardcover
First published April 8, 2003
5 people are currently reading
217 people want to read
About the author
Melinda Haynes
16 books73 followersMelinda Haynes is an American novelist. She grew up in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. For much of her adult life she was a painter. In 1999, she wrote her first published novel, Mother of Pearl, while living in a mobile home in Grand Bay, Alabama. Melinda Haynes currently resides in Mobile, Alabama with her husband, Ray. Her writing has a close relationship to Mississippi in the 1950s and 1960s.
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
January 8, 2019
EXCERPT: It was a first, the way Willem kept his eyes on her and waited for her to look away. He never did this, never tested his limits by staring at someone, but he felt there was a lot at stake here. His pride, for one thing. After what seemed an eternity, she looked away first, but it wasn't in defeat, it was a subtle dismissal, and Willem felt banished to the corner of her mind, where he supposed bad little boys with chips on their shoulders were standing with their pants down around their ankles, waiting to be thrashed. He was incredibly irritated by her. Angry, even. He had spent his entire life trying to behave circumspectly, weighing situations and avoiding entanglements, going out of his way to keep from offending people, and this woman, this tiny, nervy woman with her little girl socks and her pointed little chin, had the audacity to bait him!
ABOUT THIS BOOK: Purvis, Mississippi, 1974: Willem Fremont has just returned to his childhood hometown to come to grips with his past. He has spent his adult life held tight inside the clenched fist of panic disorder -- the stagnation produced by making too many wrong decisions was more paralyzing than a whole case of Jim Beam.
Determined that a trip back to the family farm will help him confront his unhappy upbringing, Willem is stunned to find his father's beloved acreage -- so much land, such a great big house -- in the hands of Eilene Till and her two grown sons. There's the plump and perennially unemployed Sonny, building a shrimp boat in the Tills' landlocked backyard, and Bruno, a disabled Vietnam vet, who escapes into his stash of old National Geographics while his wife, Leah, seeks a small measure of comfort in the day-to-day tending of their farm. How Willem navigates through these unsettled lives to find love and reconciliation in his own is at the heart of this compassionate portrait of small-town America that celebrates the unusual, embraces the unwanted, and opens its arms to all lost souls in search of a home.
MY THOUGHTS: This is very much a character driven novel. It is a tale of family battles; battles between mothers and sons, husbands and wives, individuals and fate. It is the tale of a man trying to reclaim his past, and a woman trying to find her future; of hardship and of redemption.
Although I didn't particularly like some of the characters initially, as I came to know their stories and came to understand them, they grew on me, so that by the end of the book I cared deeply about them.
Set in the deep south, this is a story of two families who don't know each other, but are connected by a parcel of land.
It is warm and encompassing. It is frustrating. But mostly, it is satisfying. The ending took me a little by surprise, but it was perfect.
I will be looking for more by this author.
💖💖💖💖
THE AUTHOR: Melinda Haynes (born 1955) is an American novelist. She grew up in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. For much of her adult life she was a painter. In 1999, she wrote her first published novel, Mother of Pearl, while living in a mobile home in Grand Bay, Alabama. Melinda Haynes currently resides in Mobile, Alabama with her husband, Ray. Her writing is intimately connected with the Mississippi of the 1950s and the 1960s. (from Wikipedia)
DISCLOSURE: I own my copy of Willem's Field by Melinda Haynes. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.
Please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com for an explanation of my rating system. This review and others are also published on my blog sandysbookaday.wordpress.com.
ABOUT THIS BOOK: Purvis, Mississippi, 1974: Willem Fremont has just returned to his childhood hometown to come to grips with his past. He has spent his adult life held tight inside the clenched fist of panic disorder -- the stagnation produced by making too many wrong decisions was more paralyzing than a whole case of Jim Beam.
Determined that a trip back to the family farm will help him confront his unhappy upbringing, Willem is stunned to find his father's beloved acreage -- so much land, such a great big house -- in the hands of Eilene Till and her two grown sons. There's the plump and perennially unemployed Sonny, building a shrimp boat in the Tills' landlocked backyard, and Bruno, a disabled Vietnam vet, who escapes into his stash of old National Geographics while his wife, Leah, seeks a small measure of comfort in the day-to-day tending of their farm. How Willem navigates through these unsettled lives to find love and reconciliation in his own is at the heart of this compassionate portrait of small-town America that celebrates the unusual, embraces the unwanted, and opens its arms to all lost souls in search of a home.
MY THOUGHTS: This is very much a character driven novel. It is a tale of family battles; battles between mothers and sons, husbands and wives, individuals and fate. It is the tale of a man trying to reclaim his past, and a woman trying to find her future; of hardship and of redemption.
Although I didn't particularly like some of the characters initially, as I came to know their stories and came to understand them, they grew on me, so that by the end of the book I cared deeply about them.
Set in the deep south, this is a story of two families who don't know each other, but are connected by a parcel of land.
It is warm and encompassing. It is frustrating. But mostly, it is satisfying. The ending took me a little by surprise, but it was perfect.
I will be looking for more by this author.
💖💖💖💖
THE AUTHOR: Melinda Haynes (born 1955) is an American novelist. She grew up in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. For much of her adult life she was a painter. In 1999, she wrote her first published novel, Mother of Pearl, while living in a mobile home in Grand Bay, Alabama. Melinda Haynes currently resides in Mobile, Alabama with her husband, Ray. Her writing is intimately connected with the Mississippi of the 1950s and the 1960s. (from Wikipedia)
DISCLOSURE: I own my copy of Willem's Field by Melinda Haynes. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.
Please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com for an explanation of my rating system. This review and others are also published on my blog sandysbookaday.wordpress.com.
September 23, 2013
Okay, this was a slow one. At least in the beginning. I actually complained about it. Beautiful words but complete stagnation. I was around page 15, reminding myself that my 55 page rule was my own rule to break... and suddenly it opened up. I was not going to be trapped in that truck stop ad infinitum like I had feared. And that was when I realized I'd been played.
All those plodding details that Haynes had heavy-handedly laid out before me in those first pages, led me to a place where I felt Willem's mania. As if I was experiencing his panic attack myself. That's how I judge the writing--my frustration/aggravation/helplessness was purposeful and orchestrated. Haynes cut me right down to size, had me begging for mercy, fighting the raw urge to scream and slam the book over the utter inanity of the minutiae she imparted as per the addled character of Willem Fremont. And from that point I realized I was in love.
Let me qualify that I happen to enjoy books about the small lives of people. The interactions. The subtleties. The vagaries. How people respond to those around them. I don't need big plot twists and huge revelations and driving action to find myself entertained. And I was entertained. Completely.
Favorite character? Eilene. Hands down. Bar none. I absolutely loved her. Her relationship with Sonny, her lazy-ass parasitic son, is priceless. All I can say is, "You go, girl."
All those plodding details that Haynes had heavy-handedly laid out before me in those first pages, led me to a place where I felt Willem's mania. As if I was experiencing his panic attack myself. That's how I judge the writing--my frustration/aggravation/helplessness was purposeful and orchestrated. Haynes cut me right down to size, had me begging for mercy, fighting the raw urge to scream and slam the book over the utter inanity of the minutiae she imparted as per the addled character of Willem Fremont. And from that point I realized I was in love.
Let me qualify that I happen to enjoy books about the small lives of people. The interactions. The subtleties. The vagaries. How people respond to those around them. I don't need big plot twists and huge revelations and driving action to find myself entertained. And I was entertained. Completely.
Favorite character? Eilene. Hands down. Bar none. I absolutely loved her. Her relationship with Sonny, her lazy-ass parasitic son, is priceless. All I can say is, "You go, girl."
June 11, 2008
I have just started this book a few nights ago. I finished the first chapter in a single sitdown and loved it.
The above rating reflects what I think so far. The first chapter describes the stirrings of an episode of panic disorder in the main character who is sitting in a Texas diner. His reactions to visual stimuli in the diner, including an un-hygenic waitress, pulled me along with the character. There's also some mystery with the character's past, as he sits with an old newspaper that announces his disappearance, and I find I want to learn more.
Really well done so far.
I tend to read more than one book at a time so it may take a while to do a final review.
The above rating reflects what I think so far. The first chapter describes the stirrings of an episode of panic disorder in the main character who is sitting in a Texas diner. His reactions to visual stimuli in the diner, including an un-hygenic waitress, pulled me along with the character. There's also some mystery with the character's past, as he sits with an old newspaper that announces his disappearance, and I find I want to learn more.
Really well done so far.
I tend to read more than one book at a time so it may take a while to do a final review.
February 14, 2017
It appears to get off to a slow start (the first 20 or so pages), but I am familiar with this author and I trusted her completely. In hindsight, the beginning was necessary to set the stage for a perfect book. I couldn't lay it down, but dreaded that it would come to an end. In fact, the only thing wrong with the book is that it ended.
May 30, 2020
I haven’t read much of American Literature, i.e. USA. Usually it’s British culture and writings I’m well accustomed to and always consider that very lovely, artistic, refined and sophisticated.
However, this book enlightened me about American culture, society and lives.
Willem’s Field is a slow read definitely, yet manages to pull the reader in, through its attractive narrative and uncanny but beautiful characters. Each character is a complete personality with his/her own story.
The beauty lies in the variety of vocabulary used and vast verbosity of the writer. Lots of feelings, emotions, situations defined in such depth that touch the very soul and draw you in completely. For the first time in my life, I fell in love with American Literature, culture and people. There was enough to relate to.
It must be read by everyone, especially adults. You won’t regret it. There aren’t any flamboyant male or female characters, description of no flaming lustful desires, no burning love story told; it’s just a book of common country folk living with their rusty, problematic and worrisome lives that makes the book so rich and heart-warming.
Still, everything that a good, insightful book needs to have is there that makes it a collector item. A memorable tale of 1970s; those good old days when things were simple and uncomplicated. Read it and cherish the memories forever!
(Here, I must add that the writer Melinda Haynes is the first female author who's got that masculine touch in her writing skills and doesn't fail in making you laugh out loud at appropriate intervals and junctions.)
However, this book enlightened me about American culture, society and lives.
Willem’s Field is a slow read definitely, yet manages to pull the reader in, through its attractive narrative and uncanny but beautiful characters. Each character is a complete personality with his/her own story.
The beauty lies in the variety of vocabulary used and vast verbosity of the writer. Lots of feelings, emotions, situations defined in such depth that touch the very soul and draw you in completely. For the first time in my life, I fell in love with American Literature, culture and people. There was enough to relate to.
It must be read by everyone, especially adults. You won’t regret it. There aren’t any flamboyant male or female characters, description of no flaming lustful desires, no burning love story told; it’s just a book of common country folk living with their rusty, problematic and worrisome lives that makes the book so rich and heart-warming.
Still, everything that a good, insightful book needs to have is there that makes it a collector item. A memorable tale of 1970s; those good old days when things were simple and uncomplicated. Read it and cherish the memories forever!
(Here, I must add that the writer Melinda Haynes is the first female author who's got that masculine touch in her writing skills and doesn't fail in making you laugh out loud at appropriate intervals and junctions.)
January 22, 2019
When I first started reading this book. I was about 60 pages in. I put it down and thought no. Not for me. It is depressing, slow, and I don't understand Willem's panic. Then two days later I picked the book back up and I found what I was looking for.
Eileen: a miserable 60ish woman who pretends to be deaf so she can yell at her grown sons who have disillusioned her and made her older age miserable.
Williem: a man with a panic disorder looking for meaning in his meaningless life
Bruno: partially paralyzed in vietnam and not talking about issues with anyone not even his wife and why he wont talk to her or have sex with her
Leha: lonely and broken in a loveless marrage with Bruno confused and sad
Sonny: overweight, lazy, no -good for nothing son of Eileen who dreams big dreams
Conchita: the woman who has nothing going for her but Sonny or vice versa
The book turns everything upside down eventually and a series of events happen to show you that in a moment in time everything changes and shake their world up. There were parts where I shreiked with laughter. And parts where I had tears of joy and sadness running down my face. I forgot turning the pages toward the end and now I will ruminate over these people and their lives for quite a while. The Author made them so real to me
Eileen: a miserable 60ish woman who pretends to be deaf so she can yell at her grown sons who have disillusioned her and made her older age miserable.
Williem: a man with a panic disorder looking for meaning in his meaningless life
Bruno: partially paralyzed in vietnam and not talking about issues with anyone not even his wife and why he wont talk to her or have sex with her
Leha: lonely and broken in a loveless marrage with Bruno confused and sad
Sonny: overweight, lazy, no -good for nothing son of Eileen who dreams big dreams
Conchita: the woman who has nothing going for her but Sonny or vice versa
The book turns everything upside down eventually and a series of events happen to show you that in a moment in time everything changes and shake their world up. There were parts where I shreiked with laughter. And parts where I had tears of joy and sadness running down my face. I forgot turning the pages toward the end and now I will ruminate over these people and their lives for quite a while. The Author made them so real to me
November 23, 2019
Some times humorous but I really dislike the authors writing style.
Read
May 12, 2021Did not finish. Just not my kind of book.
November 3, 2024
Very intriguing and believable characters. Love how she relates the characters to each other. Sad and funny!
November 15, 2017
Well that was an insight into panic disorders that I haven’t read about. So many genuinely good people in the book to root for. And then the not so good people that seemed to come alive. I am not 100% convinced with the couple at the end coming together, but can forgive it since the rest was so wonderful!
September 12, 2011
I could relate to the games people played within their relationships and with themselves. It was fascinating to watch various characters begin to tire of their games, see how they hit a wall, and then struggle to learn new behaviors. Through finding themselves, they rediscover each other and vice versa. I think the novel is a great lesson in how while it isn't painless to live an honest life (as in authentic), it is much more rewarding and does make life easier in some ways.
It disturbed me that Sonny leaves Joe to die in the tunnel. This scene seemed a bit too dark for the rest of the novel. Joe is a scumbag and I figured he'd get what's coming to him. However, I had become a bit sympathetic towards Sonny and was hopeful about his future prospects, but to have a new start as the result of Joe's horrible, preventable death really causes me to question Sonny's ability to ever have a strong and stable foundation. But then, perhaps he'll never quit playing games.
Overall, I really enjoyed the book. At first I thought it was corny that Haynes had the climax--which I see as when most of the characters reach their own sense of independence from their own games--leading up to America's Independence Day, but then, perhaps, I have a small streak of cynicism. Issues about the land are threaded through the book, so the 4th of July aspect works on a broader level, too.
It disturbed me that Sonny leaves Joe to die in the tunnel. This scene seemed a bit too dark for the rest of the novel. Joe is a scumbag and I figured he'd get what's coming to him. However, I had become a bit sympathetic towards Sonny and was hopeful about his future prospects, but to have a new start as the result of Joe's horrible, preventable death really causes me to question Sonny's ability to ever have a strong and stable foundation. But then, perhaps he'll never quit playing games.
Overall, I really enjoyed the book. At first I thought it was corny that Haynes had the climax--which I see as when most of the characters reach their own sense of independence from their own games--leading up to America's Independence Day, but then, perhaps, I have a small streak of cynicism. Issues about the land are threaded through the book, so the 4th of July aspect works on a broader level, too.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 3, 2016
It is an easy enough read ... Easy but slow. I had no trouble at all setting it down then picking it back up after a couple of chapters. It took me three days of meandering through to finish.
The characters where compelling and I enjoyed their development very much. The plot was a little lazy but pleasant for a summer read. It is a rare thing to find a book exactly as easy to put down as it is to pick up! I would not recommend this book as the world is full of truly amazing books but I am glad to have read it. It is decently written and enjoyable if you are a patient reader not always needing a thrill or shock.
Go ahead. Pick it up and read it. Shift easily between the 1970s world of the post Vietnam war south and your own ...
The characters where compelling and I enjoyed their development very much. The plot was a little lazy but pleasant for a summer read. It is a rare thing to find a book exactly as easy to put down as it is to pick up! I would not recommend this book as the world is full of truly amazing books but I am glad to have read it. It is decently written and enjoyable if you are a patient reader not always needing a thrill or shock.
Go ahead. Pick it up and read it. Shift easily between the 1970s world of the post Vietnam war south and your own ...
July 24, 2008
I really enjoyed the characters in this book. I didn't know where it was going at first and was sort of put off by the 70s something man with his neurosis who I thought was going to be the main character but as the book evolved I grew to like all of the characters. It was a laugh-out-loud book in some parts.
May 18, 2013
I know I am only midway thru the book, but I am delighted to inform fellow Haynes fans that this book is showing signs of being every bit as good add her previous accomplishments....finished the book late last night and I am thrilled to say that this book is as good as anything Haynes has written. It is truly a good read!
August 25, 2014
I found the depiction of panic attacks in the main character naive and unrealistic. So much so that it made the rest of the portrayals sound weak as well. This book dragged on me. After reading chalk town, which I thought was great, this one was a let down. I keep imagining that there's an author out there who will win me with consistency. How found them yet.
November 20, 2008
After 2 months of trying to read it and becoming bored I finally finished it!!!!! It wasn't so bad but not one of my favorites.....
December 27, 2010
Characters were not compelling and the story dragged until the very end. Not one of her better works.
August 31, 2011
After reading the first chapter, I was ready to walk away. Tedious. It slowly got better. Family dynamics, gotta love it.
November 8, 2011
Bonus Book - October 2004
July 22, 2022
Brilliantly written, my only wish is that Melinda Haynes were more prolific.
September 2, 2012
This novel started out pretty slowly, but I was glad I stuck with it. The character development was really interesting and the resolution of the relationship issues was touching.
June 8, 2013
A story full of sad characters. Made me feel grateful for the childhood that I experienced!
March 17, 2014
Another beautiful book by Melinda Haynes. Love her writing style and her funky characters. Hope she writes another.
December 8, 2011
I had a hard time getting into this one. After several tries I just gave up.
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews