Gaines, Ernest J

New York. 1983. September 1983. Knopf. 1st American Edition. Previous Owner's Name Penned in Front,Otherwise Very Good in Dustjacket. 0394514688. 214 pages. hardcover. Jacket illustration & design by Wendell Minor. keywords: Literature America African American Southern. FROM THE PUBLISHER - From the author of THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MISS JANE PITTMAN, a profound and unforgettable new novel set in a small corner of the deep South where, over the course of one day, the lives of a group of men and women may be changed forever. It begins with a murder: in the compound of a backwoods Louisiana plantation Beau Boutan, a Cajun farmer, is found shot. Immediately, we learn that something perhaps even more serious has taken place; we are in a maelstrom of startling events. As the day moves toward its climax, we come to understand the complex relationships that exist between the blacks and the whites, the reasons behind the sudden bursts of courage from the old black men, the almost untenable pride that Candy has inherited from her ancestors . and we sense in this confrontation between two small groups of people the larger issue that faces the South: the conflict between the old ways and the new, between a dark and bloody past and a difficult but viable future. Ernest Gaines brings to this story the same rich sense of place, the same understanding humor, and the same compassion for a people and their struggle that have informed his previous, widely acclaimed novels. inventory #4025 ISBN: 0394514688.