“Alexander Parsons has struck the richest vein of the American tragedy in the Philippines—the story of its disproportionate impact on the young men of New Mexico. In this beautiful novel, with its spare but keen sense of pathos, Parsons shows us how events of history leave concentric ripples that are deeply felt across years and continents.” —Hampton Sides, author of Ghost Soldiers “I can’t think of anything I’ve read this past year that held me as spellbound as this superlative book. It is vividly authentic whether Parsons is describing the high mountain desert of New Mexico, the jungles of the Philippines, or the characters that traverse these landscapes. The book is a riveting page-turner.” —Thom Jones, author of The Pugilist at Rest Booklist (March 2005) The brutality of war exerted on its young soldiers and the shocks felt by the families left at home are brought to harrowing life in Parsons’ new novel...yadda yadda plot summary... Parsons, by recounting struggles fought both at home and abroad, shows how indifferent war is to the people who make the most sacrifices, breaking families apart through fissures they didn’t even know existed. A moving, richly textured novel rendered with a poet’s touch. Publisher’s Weekly (Mar. 14, 2005) In this deeply moving second novel, about the struggles of a New Mexico ranching family during World War II, Parsons (Leaving Disneyland) traces the effects of war at home and abroad. Ross Strickland and his brother, Baylis; their wives, Sara and Alida; and their children all live together, tending cattle and working the land. As America prepares for war, Ross and Sara’s headstrong son, Jack, enlists in the army against his stubborn father’s wishes. Soon, the War Department sends the Stricklands an eviction notice—their land is commandeered to provide a test site for the atomic bomb. As the family’s land and livelihood slip away, so do the bonds that hold them together. Jack is reported dead, when in fact he is a prisoner of war, suffering the tortures of the Bataan Death March. Ross is sent to jail as he engages in a hopeless fight to regain his past. Baylis loses his wife and embarks on a brief affair with Sara. The action alternates between the Philippines and New Mexico, as Jack and his family struggle to survive. Parson’s painful portrayal of the war’s hardships offers a fresh and searing take on the dark shadows cast by the atomic bomb. Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Series (May 2005) Beautifully written and vividly authentic, In the Shadows of the Sun takes its place alongside some of the most affecting recent fiction we have about war, such as Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried and Pat Barker’s Regeneration. Parsons has skillfully cast a handful of heroes—those who survive and those who welcome them home—in an awe-inspiring story that’s as gutsy as it is gripping.

“In tautly etched, vivid prose, Alexander Parsons has created landscapes of the natural world and the human psyche that plumb the depths of the relentless questions of existence. To read In the Shadows of the Sun is to enter a trance of storytelling that left me blinking and breathless. No other novel in recent memory strikes so deeply with such elegance and heartbreaking beauty.” —Jeffrey Lent, author of Lost Nation “With In the Shadows of the Sun, Alexander Parsons establishes himself as the new authority on the American Southwestern experience. The novel is gripping, with beautifully drawn landscapes, and memorable characters who haunt the reader long after the last page is turned.” —Mark Jude Poirier, author of Modern Ranch Living “I can’t think of a family, in recent American literature, that I’ve cared more about than the Stricklands of Alexander Parson’s magnificent new novel, In the Shadows of the Sun. From its horrific opening describing the Bataan Death March, to the blood-feuds and dark, family secrets of the high desert plains of New Mexico, In the Shadows of the Sun is the most engaging novel of human conflict I’ve read since Going After Cacciato. This is a book as timely as it is beautiful, with an ending—whatever you do, don’t look ahead—that you’ll remember for the rest of your life.” —Howard Frank Mosher, author of A Stranger In the Kingdom “This powerful, thought-provoking novel is the story of a cattle ranching family and the effects of the war upon them. Taking place in New Mexico and the Philippines (Bataan Death March), Alexander Parsons has written eloquently of the lasting emotional scars war brings to this family. This book will stay with you long after the last page.” —Sue Richardson, Maine Coast Book Shop, Damariscotta, ME Interview with NHPR’s “The Front Porch” here for your listening amusement: Aaaaghhh!@NHPR. It’s a .ram file which requires RealPlayer to work. Reading for WSUI’s “Live from Prairie Lights”: Iowa05Reading (30 min. reading, 30 min. Q&A). It’s a .ram file which requires RealPlayer to work. Kirkus Reviews (Feb. 2005) War, dispossession and atomic fallout afflict a decent ranching family in 1940s New Mexico... [yadda yadda plot summary yadda yadda] Second-novelist Parsons (Leaving Disneyland) unnecessarily overloads the scales: His sensitive evocation of historical atrocities and a scouring way of life would be affecting enough without the pile-up of misery.