Synopses & Reviews
A powerful, coming-of-age debut novel from a bright new literary voice. Set against the closing years of the Cold War, Constance Squires's debut novel introduces the family of Army Major Collins, as told through the eyes of Lucinda Collins-the vibrant, headstrong eldest daughter.
In spare, heart-wrenchingly beautiful prose, Squires offers us a rare glimpse into the experiences and sacrifices of an American military family-a powerful story that reveals what it really means to fight for the things we believe in and to defend the ones we love.
Review
"Constance Squires'
Along the Watchtower is an often poignant
rite-de- passage story of a daughter growing up in an Army family. Beginning on a military base in Germany in the early 1980s, Lucinda's peripatetic tale closes during the Desert Storm era, in Oklahoma, where the family--splintered over time--is in a sense restored. Lucinda's trajectory is accented with music and with acts of derring-do, but is also rife with ghosts and lost souls."
-Toni Graham, Author of Waiting for Elvis, Winner of the John Gardner Book Award
"Set in 1980s West Germany and Lawton, Oklahoma, Constance Squires's compelling debut novel takes both ghost story and soldier's story and remyths these into a unique and fascinating hybrid. With unforgettable characters and a well-crafted plot, Along the Watchtower puts the screws to the reader and turns them tighter and tighter. Beautiful, brilliant, terrifying."
-Aaron Gwyn, author of Dog on the Cross and The World Beneath
Review
“While those interested in military life will be drawn to this book, readers of all backgrounds and of many age groups will feel a strong connection to these characters. This is a superbly told coming-of-age story.”—World Literature Today
About the Author
Constance Squires is an Army brat and an inveterate lover of rock and roll. She is the director of the MFA program in Creative Writing at the University of Central Oklahoma.