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A White Wind Blew by James Markert: Book Summary

While the staff worked tirelessly trying to keep them comfortable in their dying days, few were able to actually be restored to their former health and "check out" of the hospital, as most left through what was first referred to as the "Death Tube" that later had to be upgraded to the "Death Tunnel" as so many patients died daily that the bodies had to be taken from the rooms and stashed down to the incinerators as quickly as possible to keep other patients from becoming upset at the site of roommates and friends passing on.

Wolfgang has a hard time keeping his dual focus as both a man of the cloth and a doctor as he watches these horrible things that are happening to the people around him. Wolfgang is no stranger to the disease, as his wife had passed, sending him back to his devotion to the church, and it is in the memory of Rose that he gets through each day hoping to find an end for the suffering of his patients.

Before training to be a priest and a doctor, Wolfgang met Rose who tested his faith and convinced him that love was the purest form of magic in the universe and after her death, he finds himself clinging back to his faith trying to understand why he is being tested with the daily task of caring for dying patients. Filled with dying patients, some already suffering from other aliments and mental illness before the influx of the epidemic, Wolfgang has many notable characters he encounters in his daily rounds, including an eccentric woman yelling from the windows, as she is Maverly from Waverly, a man only known as Herman who becomes violent and screams, refusing to come from his bed to use the bathroom or to receive meals in the bleak yet cheerfully decorated dining area to take the patients minds off death.

While some patients have found love among their numbers and have been known to sneak off the property to have alone time, one even becoming pregnant and Wolfgang fears telling her of the fate of her lover and keeps telling her that he has been too ill to return her letters she passes from the nursing staff. It is when a man is brought in that Wolfgang realizes that despite missing a few fingers from one of his hands, he is subconsciously playing piano. Music is something that has always excited Wolfgang and it is in his blood, hence his naming from his parents who also appreciated the arts.

Seeing the dire conditions and the little there is to hope for around Waverly Hills, Wolfgang tries to get permission to start a choir or a small music class for those that showed promise only to be turned down. After sharing his idea with one of the nurses, they slowly devise a way to incorporate more patients into the music program. While the colored hospital down the hill is in worse condition and has less food and supplies to share with its patients and staff that live on the grounds, Waverly Hills often shares, and feels that maybe they can even share in their idea to get the music program off the ground.

Feeling the patients need something to look forward to, Wolfgang suggests a music program after seeing one of his patients that was missing a few fingers, still moving his hands mindlessly as if stroking the ivory keys. His idea is shot down, but as more patients are passing and leaving through the Death Tunnel, Wolfgang knows he has to act now and uses his faith to guide him. In flashbacks of his childhood, we know that Wolfgang's family was devoted to music and the arts, since the his naming and music played a part in his life when Rose was still alive through their short courtship and marriage before death had taken her too.

When studying both religion and medicine, music was always there is the background for Wolfgang as something that was also a calling to him, though not as strong as the need to heal the body and human spirit. When he realizes that he can draw on all three of his passions and use music as part of the treatment for the dying, even though he is told not to pursue this music, Wolfgang unites a group anyway believing that this is the best way to treat the human spirit.

Performing their concert in secret outside Waverly Hills, the music drifted on the winds, past the colored hospital at the foot of the hill and carried on the invisible fingers of the wind into the towns where those still healthy were hearing the song.

Train - Drops of Jupiter (Official Music Video)

While most of the audience was sickened or insane from their confinement in the hospital, even they seemed to be soothed by the healing of music as the group played. Seen on several ghost hunting and history programs, the real Waverly Hills, which stands as a historic site that still allows tours and the occasional television show to tape a ghost hunting episode such as Ghost Hunters which featured two Halloween evening live streams of exploring through the hospital, especially room , which seems to have activity and in the book is one of the spots where Maverly likes to cry from the windows overlooking the sections of screened in porches where the patients would sit outside or the children that were living in the lower levels of the building would play outside or on their porch.

Ghost shows have claimed to see specters on the prowl in the hallways written about in the novel, to hear disembodied voices, and to have seen on an episode of Ghost Hunters a table overturn itself when being asked some questions. The shows also explored the true "Death Tunnel" which went under the hospital for discreet corpse disposal. With the amount of bodies being brought through many times a day, some shows claim to hear voices in the tunnel as well.

Tours of Waverly Hills, can be arranged on its official website, making the most of its ghost and historic lore. Wolfgang Pike was not always able to save through medicine and faith alone, but the combination of bringing music to those that were suffering was his own gift that provided the comfort they wouldn't have found otherwise. Though a romantic backstory and the racial strife can feel formulaic, Markert displays great imagination in describing the rivalries, friendships, and intense relationships among the often quirky and cranky terminally ill, and the way that a diagnosis, or even a cure, can upset delicate dynamics.

Daniel Lazar, Writers House.

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Working at the Waverly Hills tuberculosis sanatorium outside s Louisville in the midst of a deadly epidemic, Dr. Wolfgang Pike is desperate to raise patient morale. When a former concert pianist checks into the sanatorium, Wolfgang has found his answer: In addition, Wolfgang's selfish focus on his own emotional needs rather than the welfare of his patients makes him a markedly unsympathetic protagonist. The author also glosses over the real horrors of tuberculosis for the sake of the sentimental idea that music is the best medicine.

Readers looking for a purely heartwarming tale, however, may be alienated by darker plotlines involving the Ku Klux Klan, suicide, religious and ethnic prejudice, and a veteran's traumatic memories of World War I. Wolfgang Pike could always tell when the rain was near. He felt the stiffness in the morning first, soon after the roosters had begun to wake the hillside, and by afternoon it had become a constant ache in the bottom of his right calf.

His ankle had all but locked up, and no amount of massaging could loosen the muscles and bones of his withered right foot-his heel had been raised in a permanent tiptoe since age eight, when polio rendered the foot nearly useless and transformed it into a weather vane. Not a drop of rain had fallen at Waverly for twenty days. The woods were full of gnarled, naked tree limbs, and the dry air carried with it a crispness that led to watery eyes, bloody noses, and a tickling in the back of the throat.

A White Wind Blew by James Markert: Book Summary

But these blue skies would not endure. Already the cumulus clouds skittered above the bell tower, blotting out the sun, and when the first drop plopped against the rooftop, it set loose like hail all over the grounds, pinging off the gutters and walkways like machine-gun fire. Torrential rain pelted the trees, the rooftop, and the grassy knoll that led down to the woods. The sanatorium's buildings were under attack, it seemed, the rain coming down in sheets past the screened-porch windows, the entrances turned to mud within minutes.

Nearly five hundred patients watched from their beds on the porches, and many cheered the sudden change in weather. Men and women in the cafeteria stopped eating and stared out the first-floor windows. At the children's pavilion, all the kids clamored to play in the storm. The teenagers hiding out in Lover's Lane quickly hurried back to their rooms, laughing and drenched and plotting how to sneak back to their beds. The pumpkin patch flooded. The pigs snorted and rolled in the deepening mud. Later Wolfgang might have called it a warning. But even aspiring priests are mortal and cannot tell the future.

It was already a busy day; he had just witnessed the second death of the morning, and he'd only just begun his rounds.

Maverly From Waverly

He watched the downpour from inside the nurses' station, a small bricked structure on the rooftop that contained a handful of rooms for housing Waverly's mental patients. To get down to the fourth-floor stairwell he needed to cross the open area of the rooftop, and his skeletal umbrella provided little protection. But he didn't have time to wait, so he stepped out into the hard rain. Normally the rooftop of the five-story sanatorium would be crowded with heliotherapy patients and children, and one could see the city of Louisville miles away, even the Ohio River and the spires of Churchill Downs on a clear day.

Today visibility was a mere fifty yards, at best, and he was alone up there. He hurried away from the mental ward into the deluge, no longer protected by the length of the looming bell tower, his footfalls barely steady on the tiles. Careful to avoid the slick leaves, he braced his left hand on the brick-and-stone wall that bordered the rooftop and squinted into the wind, dragging his right foot. He passed an empty seesaw and the three rocking swings behind it-rooftop playground equipment so that the children could get closer exposure to the sun.

It saddened him to see them unused. A door slammed behind him. Wolfgang looked back toward the nurses' station. The wind had blown the door open, sending it crashing into the brick wall. Nurse Rita appeared in the doorway, holding on to her white cap as she reeled the door back in. Above her the bell tower touched the low-lying clouds and a rumble of thunder enveloped the property. Thunderstorms in January were not the norm in the River City, but neither were twenty deaths in a single day, which had occurred on three different occasions since Christmas, when the temperatures lingered in the single digits and the patients, no matter how thickly they were bundled, could not find warmth on the solarium porches.

One of the mental patients screamed-the sound cut through the noise of the storm-and Wolfgang moved away from the shrill voice. It was not deep enough to be Herman's voice. He could tell it was Maverly Simms, the fifty-year-old woman with schizophrenia and with TB in every part of her body except her tortured brain. She'd most assuredly just noticed that her roommate, Jill, had died. Jill was a mute, prone to violence against others and to herself, but for whatever reason, Maverly's bouts of hysteria and rants of senseless drivel had calmed Jill.

So they'd been placed together, and the situation worked well for three weeks. But Jill had passed away during the night. About thirty minutes earlier, Nurse Rita had called Wolfgang up to the rooftop to help prepare Jill's body. Maverly had been awake but far from lucid when Wolfgang arrived with his black bag. She'd been in her rocking chair, staring out at the rain and approaching storm clouds, whispering softly, "Maverly at Waverly.

Nurse Rita stood next to Maverly's rocking chair and then turned at the sound of Wolfgang's voice. She was young and, in Wolfgang's opinion, not seasoned enough for her current duty. Wolfgang had questioned Dr. Barker's decision to put her on the rooftop. Unfortunately for Rita, Dr. Barker liked to throw his staff right into things.

A White Wind Blew by James Markert

And indeed, when Wolfgang had arrived this morning, Rita had been crying. Her hands were clinched into tight balls, her fingernails pressing hard into the meat of her palms. Wolfgang approached her but kept his eyes on Maverly. Wolfgang knew that tuberculosis didn't discriminate. It invaded the bodies of the young and elderly, black and white, men and women, sane and not so sane. From a sneeze, or a cough, by speaking or a kiss, airborne particles containing tubercle bacilli floated unseen in search of another host to infect.

They became established in the alveoli of the lungs and spread throughout the body, sometimes quickly. The entire process with Jill had lasted only a few months-just long enough for her to be missed. After a moment of silence, Rita wet a rag and dabbed Jill's lips before cleaning her fingernails and combing her silver hair. Wolfgang propped her head up on pillows, closed her eyes, and put in her false teeth.

It was important to get the newly deceased in the best possible condition before another patient noticed her.

A White Wind Blew

The voice was loud and booming, as if in competition with the thunder and rain. Rita nodded, fingertips to her forehead. It was not the first time Herman had ranted about wanting cake, just the first time of the morning. Wolfgang reached the stairwell and lowered his tangled umbrella.

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Also, the Klan is doing their usual thing. Nov 03, Mary rated it it was amazing. His wife was pregnant with their first child, and they couldn't take the risks of living and working on Waverly's hillside any longer-neither the patients nor the staff were allowed to leave. Barker's decision to put her on the rooftop. Just a moment while we sign you in to your Goodreads account. There is so much love and beauty as the patients join forces to complete and perform the requiem and the beauty of these unlikely friendships and loved is solidified because they are all battling this same fight. Readers looking for a purely heartwarming tale, however, may be alienated by darker plotlines involving the Ku Klux Klan, suicide, religious and ethnic prejudice, and a veteran's traumatic memories of World War I.

He smoothed his hands over his dark wavy hair and black beard-a beard he'd trimmed regularly ever since he'd started it as a teen, never allowing it to become too thick in the fifteen years he'd had it, yet full enough to keep his face warm during the cold Waverly winters. According to some of the patients, he had a baby face, so at least the beard helped him look closer to his age of thirty-one. By the time he reached the fourth-floor solarium porch, where dozens of beds faced the long screened windows, he couldn't hear Maverly or Herman screaming anymore.

Either they'd stopped or their voices were drowned out by the sanatorium's other noises-noises that chased him down the solarium as he quickly passed the beds and sidestepped an orderly pushing a squeaky library cart of books. Wolfgang disagreed with Barker on how the sanatorium was structured: Men on the second and fourth floors. Women on the first and third floors. Children ushered off to the children's pavilion.

Lunatics sent to the rooftop. They all were able to mix and mingle in the cafeteria, workshops, in the theater, and during special events like Christmas and Easter, but for Wolfgang it wasn't enough. In fact, he thought they shouldn't separate the patients at all, telling Susannah on many occasions, "We're not a prison!

There was a conglomeration of laughter and moaning as mist from the heavy rainfall found its way into the screened porch and onto their bed covers. Some patients smiled and talked, read, or played checkers or chess; some shaved and listened to music; some cried out in pain and spat blood into their bedside pails. Some still slept; others drank milk and watched the weather with blank faces.

Halfway down the solarium, Wolfgang spotted Nurse Susannah Figgins heading his way. Her dress was the nurse's standard white, with a matching cap atop her curly blond hair. Her skin was pale, a stark contrast to her pretty brown eyes and rosebud lips. She reached into her dress pocket, pulled out a folded piece of paper, and held it out toward Wolfgang as she approached. Would you like to tell us about a lower price? Read more Read less. Kindle Cloud Reader Read instantly in your browser. Customers who bought this item also bought.

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All Things Bright and Strange. The Book That Matters Most: Editorial Reviews From Booklist Markert has interwoven three seemingly unrelated subjects—tuberculosis, music, and racism—into a hauntingly lyrical narrative with operatic overtones. Though he is unable to finish the requiem he is attempting to compose for his late wife, music is a balm for Dr. Will it prove similarly effective for his patients—many of them incurably ill—at the Waverly Hills Tuberculosis Sanatorium, on the outskirts of Louisville, or will bigotry and fear, not to mention death, stand in the way?

Forming a band and a choir with the assistance of a patient who just happens to be a former concert pianist, he is determined to unleash the physically and spiritually healing powers of music. A soaring tribute to the resiliency of life in the face of death. Beautifully told, A White Wind Blew is set in a time when the klan and racism openly thrived. With a historian's eye for detail, Markert spins his story of a world where men and women were healed and made whole.

The result is a compelling and thought-provoking novel that will move and inspire readers of all kinds. Markert displays great imagination in describing the rivalries, friendships, and intense relationships among the often quirky and cranky terminally ill, and the way that a diagnosis, or even a cure, can upset delicate dynamics. The author writes well and reads easily; you'll finish this book in a day or two and wish for a sequel.

I couldn't put down this story of a doctor's struggle with faith, hope and healing. In the end, I not only learned about that time in history, but it vividly came alive. I kept coming back to the story, reluctant to leave it even when I knew I should be sleeping. Markert lends them a dignity no one else at the time does See all Editorial Reviews. Product details File Size: Sourcebooks Landmark February 26, Publication Date: February 26, Sold by: Share your thoughts with other customers.

Write a customer review. Read reviews that mention white wind wind blew waverly hills well written highly recommend james markert wolfgang pike exchange for an honest enjoyed this book really enjoyed time period book club recommend this book use of music made me laugh great read thoroughly enjoyed takes place tuberculosis sanatorium live in louisville. Showing of 88 reviews.

Top Reviews Most recent Top Reviews. There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later. Kindle Edition Verified Purchase. I really enjoyed this book with its descriptive writing and accurate portrayal of the time. This book takes place in the at a tuberculosis sanitarium which actually existed in this time period in Kentucky.

The man character, Wolfgang, is a doctor who wishes to return to studying for the priesthood but feels that he needs to help with the tuberculosis epidemic first. He also strongly believes that music is healing--playing instruments for his patients as well as forming a choir against the head doctor's support for any of his uses of music. This would have been 5 stars for me except that I felt the story for me didn't always flow from chapter to chapter when there would be a shift from present to past as Wolfgang would begin to remember pasts events and relationships in his life.

There was just a shift and you would get it by reading but I felt that having a chapter heading or even just there being a year at the beginning of the chapter would have helped the flow. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and the difference between 4 and 5 stars for me is just slight and probably a personal preference issue. There are many thought-provoking discussion questions at the end making it suitable for book clubs.