One of the early novels dealing with
racial tensions in the South, this book was
written in Italy on a Guggenheim Fellowship.
It takes place in a small Mississippi county
seat around the late 40s and concerns
a race for county sheriff in which the hero,
Duncan Harper, a one-time Ole Miss football
star, is persuaded to enter. His fine but
somewhat simplistic character leads him
to believe that a new approach to race
can be introduced in this traditional society.
Involved as major characters are also a rather
enigmatic semi-educated black man, Beckwith
Dozer, Duncans wife Tinker, his former fiancee
(returned home as a war widow), his wifes
devoted admirer, the lawless Jimmy Tallant,
and a number of other colorful local characters
bootleggers, farmers, courthouse familiars
business men, black families, children,
the rich and poor and inbetweens. A rich
variety of racial attitudes, from a dawning
commonsense compassionate liberalism
to total hardline conservatism, have a chance
to surface in dramatic context throughout
the book. The summer election campaign
for sheriff furnishes the plot structure from
beginning to conclusion, but many other
dramatic confrontations both personal and
public are set in motion and brought to a head.
I was told by many on good authority
that this book was such a strong contender
for the Pulitzer Prize in 1957 that no prize
was offered.
This is a review from Elizabeth Spencer Writer .com
racial tensions in the South, this book was
written in Italy on a Guggenheim Fellowship.
It takes place in a small Mississippi county
seat around the late 40s and concerns
a race for county sheriff in which the hero,
Duncan Harper, a one-time Ole Miss football
star, is persuaded to enter. His fine but
somewhat simplistic character leads him
to believe that a new approach to race
can be introduced in this traditional society.
Involved as major characters are also a rather
enigmatic semi-educated black man, Beckwith
Dozer, Duncans wife Tinker, his former fiancee
(returned home as a war widow), his wifes
devoted admirer, the lawless Jimmy Tallant,
and a number of other colorful local characters
bootleggers, farmers, courthouse familiars
business men, black families, children,
the rich and poor and inbetweens. A rich
variety of racial attitudes, from a dawning
commonsense compassionate liberalism
to total hardline conservatism, have a chance
to surface in dramatic context throughout
the book. The summer election campaign
for sheriff furnishes the plot structure from
beginning to conclusion, but many other
dramatic confrontations both personal and
public are set in motion and brought to a head.
I was told by many on good authority
that this book was such a strong contender
for the Pulitzer Prize in 1957 that no prize
was offered.
This is a review from Elizabeth Spencer Writer .com
