With the exception of young Gary, the characters in Eastern Sun, Winter Moon are grownups, amplifying the influence the often indifferent adult world had on Paulsen's life. Of course, the two most important characters are Paulsen's parents, known simply to readers as Mother and Father. Despite his parents' shortcomings, Paulsen carefully draws them multidimensionally, causing readers uncertainty about whether his parents were flawed individuals or victims of their circumstances. Mother's promiscuous behavior and alcoholism allow her to temporarily escape the problems common to military wives: fear, loneliness, and uncertainty. Although Gary clearly resents her weaknesses, he also admires his mother's strengths. She methodically nurses the mangled victims of a shark attack and unhesitatingly organizes at Okinawa a raid of the ship's pantry to give food to starving Japanese women and children. While she is sometimes emotionally removed from her son, at other crucial times...