Stephen Evans is, among other things, a playwright, and that talent is evident here. Reading this book brings to mind, at least to someone of my generation, Nick and Nora Charles engaged in witty exchanges, and their ever-present schnauser, Asta (The Thin Man). In this tale, though, Nick and Nora become Nick and Lena, both attorneys, (one sane, the other's sanity is for the reader to decide), and Asta becomes a puppet named Sancho. Other real animals play an important role in the story, particularly a large dog named Wolfram. The fairly short book (180 pages) is an engaging, entertaining read and would make a great Disney movie, though the too sophisticated dialog may need to be downplayed a tad for that audience. For this audience, though, the dialog makes the read.

Overall, I love this book. But...it is not easy to get into, and it jumps back and forth in both time and characters. It's like a fine instrument that is in need of tuning, one string, or note (or character) at a time. The process is a little scratchy, but when the tuning is done, the symphony is wonderful. The characters start out as children in the 20's, and travel back and forth in time through the 2nd World War and into nursing homes and senility. It's a well written, eloquent book. I would think a book club could have a wonderful time dissecting the characters and events, because as the narrative jumps from one era and character to another, it does get confusing, and each reader will follow it in his own way, filling in any missing pieces.