Powerful and evocative, William Wharton's fifth novel magically recreates a pre-World War II world - a finely etched portrait of a working-class family: a carnival stuntman and his lion ... and, most of all, love.<BR>Dickie Kettleson's father is passing along to his ten-year-old son a joyful, wholehearted pride in work - whether it is the daily work one is paid to do or the design and construction of the greatest sand castle ever seen on the Jersey shore. Nevertheless, Dickie lives in constant fear of hunger and the destruction of his family. When the boy meets Sture Modig, a carnie crippled in World War I, now trying to make a living with a lion cub he's rescued, their worlds suddenly collide. For them, on an October day in 1938 in Wildwood, New Jersey, the meanings of family, loyalty, love, and survival will all be redefined and their lives irrevocably changed. The result is a deeply affecting story ... a profound lesson in trust and pride.