Voices From A Far Field

Calvin Bowden
Llumina Press (2006)
ISBN 9781595264510
Reviewed by Dr. Michael Philliber for Reader Views (7/09)


Caught up! I simply got caught up in the book! I didn’t want to put it down, but my emotions kept taking a rollercoaster ride the further I read, and I found I couldn’t stomach it all at once! Calvin Bowden has penned an absorbing story in “Voices from a Far Field” about a sleepy east Texas town during the great Depression. But this short, 292-page, adult-level story is wrapped up around a young, terribly impoverished teenage white boy-becoming-a-man, and the cataclysmic events surrounding his early life.

Bowden’s story begins in the present when the main character, Heck Tennel, now 79-years-old, returns to his old home town for the first time in 60 years. He had fled the little town in 1934 when falsely charged by the most powerful family of the town with rape, robbery, and assault. Now Heck is drawn back to Two Rivers through suspicious circumstances. He finds his old childhood black friend, Cracker. After a few surprising revelations from Cracker, he decides to spend the night in the guestroom. During the restless night’s sleep, Heck’s dreams recount the fateful few weeks that led up to his fleeing Two Rivers which takes up most of the book, and will lure the reader into a world of Depression-era poverty, racism, crooked justice, love, fear and genuine courage.

“Voices from a Far Field” is a bit of a racy read, with numerous editorial glitches, especially from the middle of the book on to the end. Yet the author has a way of weaving his story that will keep a reader turning pages, vocalizing rage because of the injustices, and biting their nails over the drama. Though the conclusion is a bit flat, it has an excellent open-ending that allows the reader to imagine “the rest of the story.” I would recommend “Voices from a Far Field” by Calvin Bowden.


Reviewed by Carol Hoyer, PhD, for Reader Views (1/09)


I have never been to Texas in the 30s, but author Calvin Bowden made me feel as if I had been there in 1930, when Heck Tennel returns home after leaving 65 years earlier.  Run out of town by local high-profile people, Heck left his sick brother and two sisters without food or money and left his first true love.

Heck and his Black friend Cracker are the reason I loved this book, because their experience rings so clear and true. Not only do they make me see the things they see, they make me feel the things they feel. There's a lot more going on than just the trials and tribulations of being in a racially-prejudiced time. It’s a story about pride, taking care of family and not letting others drag you down.

Heck learns about life the hard way. With a father who is crippled and a mother who runs around on her husband, Heck is doing all he can to care for his family. It isn’t easy when every time something good happens, something worse takes it away.  Life was hard and simple in that days- entertainment was drinking moonshine, having barn dances and trying to find your one true love.

When Heck’s newfound love admits she loves him, her mean-spirited Aunt will take it all away with one false charge – rape. His only ally is Cilla and she is the go-between for the lovers. Running from the law and leaving everything behind, he now returns to the town he wanted to escape to find the answers to his questions.

The larger theme of the story in “Voices From A Far Field” by Calvin Bowden is racial intolerance, but the author doesn’t try to make it a lesson of life, he just tells it like he remembers it. Even though the story happened years ago, you know it still happens today where people distrust each other and are out for the “gold.”

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