Squirrels in the Wall

A Novel in Stories

Henry Hitz

• Publisher: SparkPress
• eBook ISBN:
  9781684630233
• Year: 2019

Squirrels in the Wall—a novel told in stories by a collection of interspecies voices—presents a unique and darkly hilarious blend of human and animal perspectives in a single setting on a Wisconsin lake. The stories provide a kaleidoscope of heartbreak among both human and animal characters as they confront abuse and death.

“They call me Herziger, but my real name is Woof,” one of the stories opens. “They call me a dachshund, but in reality, I am just a dog. I live with my mother among a pack of wild humans in a big house on a lake.” In the second story, “Squirrels in the Wall,” Herzie’s “human,” Barney Blatz, experiences a fire in that house when he is just four. The stories follow Barney from infancy to death, tracing the epic, ongoing conflict between him and Father—a bumbling tyrant guilty of shocking abuse but also capable of poignant redemption.

On this rollicking journey, we meet a suicidal toad, a cat, two mice, a bee, Grandfather’s ghost, and a turtle who possesses Barney in a climactic tale of environmental activism gone awry. Other stories reflect the points of view of Barney’s mother, sister, and older brother; together, they construct a collage of spectacular family dysfunction—and of healing love.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• 1. Frank and Stein
• 2. Squirrels in the Wall
• 3. Tom the Squirrel
• 4. Life Cycle of a Toad
• 5. The Clearing
• 6. Woof
• 7. The Birds and the Bees
• 8. Death Masks
• 9. Thought It Was a Goner
• 10. Guns on the Wall I
• 11. Let Nothing You Dismay
• 12. My Summer Vacation
• 13. This Is the Week That Was
• 14. Guns on the Wall II
• 15. Turtle Bay
• 16. Dress Rehearsal
• 17. Blue Baby
• 18. The Other World
• 19. Paragraph
• 20. Term Life
• About the Author