Edgar’s passions intertwined through a mélange of language and dogs.
One of his favorite pastimes was scouring the dictionary to find new names for the pups.
He learned to sign at an early age and when he was old enough to work in the kennel with his father, Edgar learned how to use his own language of sign to train the dogs. Even though he couldn’t speak, his world was rich with vocabulary and emotion. His vocal chords were intact and his hearing was fine but he couldn’t utter a syllable. Lines of purity meant nothing to the Sawtelles yet their animals were prized dogs that people paid handsome rewards for.Įdgar had been born mute. Unlike other breeders who focused on pairings strictly between purebreds, the Sawtelles mated the best physical specimens as well as the most intelligent – making them completely unique. What began as a curiosity aroused by Mendel’s first published papers on genetic inheritance turned into a full-time occupation begun by Edgar’s grandfather. The Sawtelles live on a small farm, breeding exceptionally trained dogs to make ends meet. Fans of Hamlet will be captured by this coming-of-age story as it recounts the most popular Shakespearean tragedy.Įdgar Sawtelle is a young teenage boy growing up in 1950’s rural Wisconsin with his mother, father, the family dog – Almondine, and a kennel filled with dogs.
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