Does the Dog Die? A Short Review of The Whole World Over, by Julia Glass
If I ever establish an Honor Roll of authors who write books that animal lovers will appreciate, Julia Glass will be the first name on the list. Her second book, The Whole World Over, is not only SAFE for animal lovers, it is recommended. Glass can barely bring herself to imperil an animal, let alone hurt one. Among the many animals mentioned, a horse sustains a bruise, a placid bulldog gets shuffled around a bit, and a character worries about who will take over feeding some feral cats, but that’s it. There is also one human death that’s reported but not shown.
Glass also proves the point that you don’t need real villains if you can get “good” characters in conflict with each other. This is a long, gentle book told from several perspectives. Is there a plot? Sort of, but it’s mostly a matter of how these good characters work out their differences. Anyway, I loved reading this book, and I recommend it. For anyone who also read Glass’s first book, Three Junes, there are a few recycled characters, including Fenno the Scottish bookstore owner and his bird, Felicity.
