Jim the Boy: Tony Earley

Image Credit: Hachette Book Group

I love stories set in another time and another world. Not science fiction, but stories that bring alive a setting in the past. Tony Earley’s Jim the Boy is one such book. A summary below from the book jacket:

Hailed as one of those rare works with the power to enchant readers of all ages, this luminous novel tells the story of a boy growing up in a small North Carolina town during the Great Depression – at a time when America itself was young and struggling to come into its own.

Beginning with Jim’s 10th birthday, the book takes us through Jim’s life, his family and through rural America during the early 20th century. Jim lives with his widowed mother and his three uncles spending happy days sheltered by their love and warmth and the book describes Jim’s experiences growing up in the span of a year.

If asked to describe the story, that’s all there is to it. But, look closely and there is a rich tale. Like any other little boy, Jim feels important on his birthday and insists that his uncles take him with them to the field now that he is “grown up.” Jim tries his best to keep up with his uncles doing field work but he is knackered by the end of the day. His uncles indulge him but also teach him values. When Jim tries to hide his mistake by replanting the cornstalk he pulled up, in place of weeds, Uncle Zeno has a matter of fact talk with him,

“Jim, this was just a mistake until you tried to hide it,” he said. “But when you tried to hide it, you made it a lie.”

Jim looked at the front of his overalls. He felt a tear start down his cheek. He snatched at it and hoped that Uncle Zeno hadn’t seen it.

Just with those few lines, Earley shows us how values can be taught quietly yet sternly. Jim’s repentance and embarrassment is beautifully shown by just the gesture of wiping his tear. There are lots of instances such as this which etch the moment and the emotion perfectly. The simplicity of prose and a certain innocence that lingers through the whole book is what makes it a beautiful story. I was also hooked by the  descriptions of a boyhood that few experience now in this age of Nintendos and iPhones.

Jim walked home through the fields and pastures. Along the way he did not try to flush baby rabbits from their hidden beds in the tall grass of the hay field. Nor, when he took off his shoes and waded across the branch, did he search among the stones for gold nuggets, or look beneath the larger rocks for crawdads and spring lizards. Jim particularly liked holding the small lizards in his cupped hands and watching their tiny hearts beat beneath the pale, thin skin of their undersides.

Small joys and the pleasures of childhood. I don’t know how many children today can identify with such carefree activities. I certainly remember chasing frogs and watching ants as a child. Those were some of the best times of my childhood. Earley’s descriptions will be nostalgic for sure to a lot of readers and yet far removed for many more.  

I am going to keep this review short and sweet just like the book. I remember Soul had written a review of the sequel to this book and she had said “don’t miss this book.” I would say the same for this as well.

Verdict: A beautifully written tale of a boy’s growing up

Rating: 4/5