A DEVIL SINGING SMALL

In the shadow of World War II, Betty dreams of love and stability, only to find her marriage to Mitch—a man gifted with his hands but haunted by his mind—fraught with turbulence. From the births of their children to a move into the rugged landscapes of rural Idaho, Betty must summon courage and resilience as Mitch’s brilliance gives way to obsession and mental illness, his visions of the Virgin Mary and his obsession extraterrestrial flight pulling him further from reality.
Against this backdrop of hardship and hope, Betty clings to the land and her vows, striving to protect her children and carve out normalcy in a life balanced on a razor’s edge of fear, temptation, and enduring love. Her bond with her daughter Torie is marked by conflict and longing, while her pride and worry for her son Michael— a combat infantry lieutenant in Vietnam—add another layer of sacrifice and strength.
A Devil Singing Small is a deeply authentic portrait of American family life from the 1940s through the 1970s, told with humor, heartbreak, and unflinching honesty. Drawing on the author’s own observations of her father’s schizophrenia and her mother’s quiet heroism, this novel resonates with readers as both a personal testament and a universal story of resilience, loyalty, and the human cost of love.