HARVARD YARD by William Martin
James Michener wrote books that covered generations of characters. William Martin does the same. In his latest novel HARVARD YARD he covers characters who lived from the sixteen hundreds through the present day, and each and every one had some sort of relationship to Harvard College. This makes for a fascinating tale that spans generations and yet still has a common thread.
In Martin's story there is a present day mystery which has its start in the past. Rare book collector and seller, Peter Fallon, learns of the possibility of the existence of a play by William Shakespeare which has never seen the light of day. It has been hidden and someone who was connected to Harvard knows the truth. But as the old saying goes, "The roots of the present lie deep in the past." And with this "treasure hunt" the place to start looking for clues is in papers that describe persons who lived in past generations of the Wedge family.
Martin tells the stories of the past generations and lets their activities provide clues to Fallon on where to look for the play. This also allows Martin to give us a guided tour on the founding of Harvard and its early years of operation. The members of the Wedge family who were connected to the college were superbly interesting. But somehow as the stories get closer to modern times they lose some of their uniqueness and interesting qualities.
The mystery of the play is only interesting as a means to get the stories told. The loves and careers of the characters in the past are what make the book readable. Several of the characters could have been the basis for an entire book and would have held the readers' interest throughout.
Martin is an excellent writer who has done his research on Harvard's history. He also has managed to create an entire set of characters who are linked through time and make a fine family of scholars, preachers, poets and professors.
If you like history viewed through a fictional strainer then you will more than enjoy HARVARD YARD. It is a tale full of historical events, made personal by the fictional cast of characters.
HARVARD YARD is published by Warner Books. It contains 580 pages and sells for $25.95.