Long Train Passing — Steven Wise

Wise's "Long Train Passing" is about a love affair between two handicapped people, a schoolteacher and a grave digger, drawn together because both wish to befriend a youngster named Jewel. Jewel shows the potential to be a fine scholar but is cursed with a brutal, alcoholic father--the owner of a local pool hall and bar called the Kingdom. The long train that passes is one grave digger's metaphor for life, as he has seen it go by. This is a likable, well-written, but not always credible story, thanks to Wise's sentimental flourishes; still, his evocation of wartime in a small Missouri town goes far to redeem his excesses.