American Romantic

Portrait. Readers who appreciate fine writing and who like the development of complex characters who embody the nuances and contradictions of our human condition, are those most likely to enjoy reading Ward Just’s latest novel, American Romantic. Just presents the life of Harry Sanders, a career diplomat. The formative events in Harry’s life took place when he was assigned to Vietnam in the early 1960s, when he was in his twenties. He finds love with a German woman, Sieglinde, but she abruptly leaves the country without saying goodbye. He goes on a clandestine assignment into the Vietnamese jungle, and comes away from the experience with scars both physical and psychological. Years later, he marries and his diplomatic career advances, but the effects of Vietnam, both love and tragedy, remain vivid in his life. Were there still romantics in the latter part of the twentieth century? In Just’s portrait, Harry is a romantic, and a complex, fully developed complex character. Readers who like that in a novel will love this finely written book. Rating: Five-star (I love it) Click here to purchase American Romantic from amazon.com.