Matthew Fish

A Window in the Earth Matthew Fish

It's the summer of 1993. After the death of their parents at the hands of a drunk driver, city-dwelling teenage brothers Christopher and James Janes are sent to live with their widowed grandfather in the remote Ozarks of Missouri. There, the brothers must learn to cope with the drastic turn their lives have taken and the unfamiliarity of their surroundings, as well as their grief. By some stroke of fate, there is one other person their age in the area: a girl named Kylie. She tells the brothers of a local mystery about a girl who disappeared one day in a nearby ancient cave used by Native Americans, and the three spend their summer together exploring it, eventually finding that there is still a bit of magic left in a world that seems bereaved of hope.

Publisher Weekly Reviewer
 Following the death of their parents in a car accident, 14-year-old Christopher Janes and his 15-year-old brother James arrive in Pine Hallow, Missouri to live with their 72-year-old grandfather, Mathias "Bones." Chris and James adapt quickly to life in Pine Hollow, becoming fast friends with Kylie, who shares with them the town legend of the Niutachi Indian cave: a cave into which a young woman named Alena mysteriously disappeared, leaving behind only her shoes and a necklace. The boys explore the cave while Bones is at a doctor's appointment, and discover a window set in the cave wall that gives them access to past memories -- times when their parents were still alive. Each trip through the window seems to bring them closer to the mystery of Alena's disappearance, which had a dark impact on Kylie's family. Very slow to get started, the narrative gains strength as James and Chris try to piece together the connection between their found objects and the memories they represent. Most touching is Bones's recollection of a past dance with his now deceased wife, and his subsequent refusal to taint that memory. Chris and James never really develop beyond their respectively bookish and athletic descriptions, but the engaging premise and mystery of the window is enough to propel the plot along. A few odd turns of phrase, such as "well-knowing" and "pile down" aside, this is a competent piece of magical fiction.