The Walking Man

Constance O. Irvin
iUniverse (2007)
ISBN 9780595434060
Reviewed by Cherie Fisher for Reader Views (1/08)


“The Walking Man” is a very well-written story that takes place in Alabama in 1950.  The story has many of the same qualities and big themes that I love in “To Kill a Mockingbird,” even though it is written during a later time period.  The author captures the time period beautifully as she tell this story through the eyes of a ten-year-old child.

Life is about to change in Taneytown, Alabama as ten-year-old Maggie and her friends take up their favorite summer past-time of following the strange man they call the ‘Walking Man.’  They quickly lose his trail but discover a wonderful waterfall to play at and then move on to find a strange cabin in the woods.  As they move closer to the cabin they see something that they are not supposed to and get chased by men with shotguns.   During the chaos, they lose track of their friend Angel, and cannot find her as they leave the woods.  The next couple of days turn into a nightmare when Angel is found brutally murdered and the town begins to point fingers at people who they think might be the killer.  Maggie lies about the circumstances about where Angel is lost to protect her friends.  As Maggie’s story begins to unravel she finds herself caught up in events that she cannot begin to understand.  She is faced with the prejudices based on race and class that she finds run deep in her little Southern town. 

The story concludes fifty years later when Maggie goes back in Taneytown to fulfill a promise that she made to Angel.  The memories of what transpired during 1950 resurface as she runs into her old friend Cotton.  And, Maggie is finally able to lie to rest what began during that long-ago summer.  This book beautifully addresses so many of the tough themes that took place in the South during the mid 1900s-- race, class, justice and the difficulties of growing up.  The story of “The Walking Man” is timeless; both older and younger readers will enjoy it.  

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