The Book of Sorrows

The Book of Sorrows is the sequel novel to Walter Wangerin, Jr.'s The Book of the Dun Cow. Published by Zondervan in 1985, it was received quite well by publications such as the Washington Post, whose review called it "a beautifully written fantasy anchored starkly in reality." Readers noted it for its melancholy tone, with one of the main themes of the book being sorrow.

The Book of Sorrows begins almost exactly where the last book ended. The great war is over and Chauntecleer and his animals are all mending the damage that it left. Chauntecleer leads them on a journey to find a new resting place, while the climate slowly changes from summer to autumn. Early in their journey the animals are obligated to care for Russell, the fox, one of the main characters from the last novel, who suffered poisoning from biting into too many basilisks during the conflict. Russel's injury has caused his lips and nose to crack and ooze. It seems that it will never heal because the fox has trouble keeping quiet. Pertelote, Chauntecleer's wife, is reduced to drugging the fox with a narcotic in hopes that it will keep him from using his mouth long enough for it to heal.

Freitag, the mouse brother who is closest to Russell, tries continually to get him to stop talking, but the fox doesn’t listen. He instead brings Freitag to a nearby stream where he emphatically tells him how to catch minnows with his tail until his lips and nose begin to crack and bubble. The fox eventually breaks down during his lesson to the mouse and cries out, "I only want to talk!" The animals hear him and come to calm him down. He is near death and his injuries have retrogressed. The fox seems to have lost his will to live, for he is no longer speaking. Chauntecleer begins to help Russell eat, by first placing the food in the fox's mouth, and mechanically grinds the fox's teeth with his own wings. But the poison has rotted the roots of Russell's teeth, which loosen during Chauntecleer's feedings. Chauntecleer then begins chewing the food with his own mouth, and spitting it into the fox's, but it soon becomes apparent to him that he is feeding a lifeless corpse.

Devastated by Russell's death, Chauntecleer and his company move farther away from the land where the war took place. Along the way they contact a beetle named Black Lazarus, a grave digger. Chauntecleer requests a special grave for the fox, one by the great ocean, Wyrmsmere, which requires that the beetle first line the grave with stone, lest the body be washed up. The animals have a service for their fallen comrade and then continue on, looking for a new resting place. Eventually they come to a pleasant hemlock tree rooted near a river. Here the animals make their new home.

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