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A Man of His Own
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A Man of His Own by Susan Wilson
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Rick Stanton is a fine baseball player on the verge of a promising career in the major league. He rescues an orphan German Shepherd mix puppy on the street and is devoted to the dog Pax. He gets married to Francesca and as about to move up to the majors, when Pearl Harbour and the entry of the USA into the WW2 changes the course of his life, and that of Pax.
Rick joins the infantry and goes to fight in Europe. He tells Francesca to volunteer Pax for the “Dogs for Defence” scheme, knowing that his intelligence and strength would make him a fine military K9. Pax passes the assessment and training, and is soon serving in Europe with his handler, Keller Nicholson. A loner who has had a difficult childhood and a spell in reform school; but his life is transformed by the K9 Corp, and his work with Pax. The dog has become a powerful, focused military canine, with high level skills in patrolling and identifying enemy forces, especially snipers. He tackles them himself if necessary, to protect his master. They form a great team, and Pax saves Keller’s life and survives injury.
Rick is less fortunate and is wounded in an ambush which wipes out his squad. He is permanently disabled and is likely to be wheelchair bound for the rest of his life. He is also suffering from stress disorders and guilt over the loss of his squad. He shares his feelings with no-one. Probably the weakest part of the books is the military action sequences; but the bulk of the story is about the postwar period when the three soldiers return home.
Keller is discharged but volunteers to return Pax to Rick, at the same time toying with the idea of absconding with the dog. He does his duty, but is torn, as is the dog when he is re-united with Rick. Between them they arrive at a novel solution, with Keller staying on as Rick’s helper and mobility assistant, and so remaining with “his” beloved dog and walking him every day. They start to train Pax as an assistance dog,picking up stuff for Rick and even moving him in his wheelchair. Pax adapts to this new role again with intelligence and skill, despite his conflicted emotions, revolving around the presence of two masters.
Rick’s difficulties in adjusting to his disabilities and guilt feelings as a survivor are described with sympathy and imaginative skill. His frustrations and jealousy at witnessing “his” dog clearly responding to Keller as his trainer and wartime handler, are painfully band effectively described.
A strange relationship develops between the physically and emotionally damaged Rick, Francesca and Keller. Pax is almost serving as the mediator in this unusual triangle. I shall not spoil the story for would be readers, by relating how this works out.
This is a highly charged, emotionally driven story.
The viewpoints of the four main characters are all used to develop the narrative, so single view is allowed to dominate. The author has handled this multiple narrative perspective very well.
A less successful aspect of the book is the sense of period detail. The setting is just over seventy years ago, but 1940’s wartime and postwar America was a very different place. People spoke differently, using very different slang and jargon from that in use today. Anyone doubting this should read J.D.Salinger, “Catcher in the Rye” (1951) . Sometimes the language and interaction in “A Man of his Own” came over as too modern to me. Any historical narrative including dialogue and reported speech is a difficult challenge for an author to manage, and to avoid the language sounding remotely old fashioned. In a way, recent history may be the most difficult period in which to handle the dialogue of the characters.
However the book is a gripping novel. A number of twists and turns in plotting are there to surprise the reader. I certainly plan to read more of Susan Wilson’s work.
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