Abstract:

Lawrence Wenzel’s first novel, Turnip-Patch Infield and a Navajo, was a clear-eyed and moving portrayal of a young minor-league baseball player, Buddy Wenceslaus, whose career was cut short by World War II when he was thrown onto the beaches of the South Pacific.

In The Sandcastle at High Tide, many years later Buddy finds himself in the midst of a very different war in Nicaragua at the height of that country’s struggle for independence. Buddy, now a sociologist, wants to see for himself how the Sandinista’s are transforming the tiny Central American country, how they are faring against the U.S.-backed Contras, an army of insurgents set on undoing the six-year-old revolution.

Buddy and his companions from the United States find a small nation in a life-and-death struggle, a David-vs.-Goliath battle with its powerful neighbor to the north. They also find a country brimming with hope and life in the face of the greatest adversity.

And Buddy finds himself drawn into the dark heart of conspiracy, betrayal, and murder at the same time he is drawn into the arms of a Sandinista heroine, and this combustive combination of events challenges his deepest loyalties.