War's Wake: How a GI-Bill veteran and a sophomore lost their way in the time of Harry Truman and Alger Hiss and fell into paradise on a magical island in Washington Park

Old photographs and ghostly remembrance empower an ethereal novel re-creating an obsessive romance in the aftermath of World War II. On a university campus bulging with ex-GIs, a traumatized combat veteran and a sophomore fell madly in love. Years later, the long-dead sophomore, invading his computer as he tries to make a novel of his life, lures him back to reprise what went wrong. Their bittersweet reassessments and besotted indulgences provide a wacky tour of Truman-era "greatest-generation" morality, a sobering look at postwar USA, and a passionate time-travel love story about memory, commitment, and decisive decisions that frame our lives.