Summary

The novel is narrated in third-person past by an omniscient narrator. It begins with the announcement that Nello, the little boy, and Patrasche, the big dog, were alone in the world, but they shared a friendship that was stronger than a brotherhood would have been. They lived together in a little hut at the edge of a small Flemish village outside of Antwerp. In the middle of the village was a windmill that had stood for over half a century, and the windmill was right across from a little old grey church. The church had a bell that rang in the morning, noon, and night.

Nello and Patrasche had heard the bell of the church ringing for their whole life. The hut they lived in belonged to Nello’s grandfather, Jehan Daas, who had been a soldier. At 80, his daughter had passed away...