Set in a plum orchard in California, six members of the Clark family narrate this story of a father-son relationship, their connections to the land, and their claims on one another. Winterchill--the long period of cold weather necessary for plum blossoms to break--is the story of how these embattled individuals grow into themselves. With characters as elemental and earthy as the plum trees in this orchard, and in stark, spare prose, Ernest J. Finney has written a deeply felt novel of renewal.
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
1st Novel sets old subject on its ear.
Kerry Luft, The Chicago Tribune
Ernest J. Finney is a treasure. He can take a well-worn theme, turn it inside out, look at it from several angles, and each time find something exciting. In "Winterchill," his first novel, Finney takes on the family, an almost obligatory subject for the first novelist, and sets it on his ear. The family is the Clarks, who own a 640-acre plum orchard in California. The principals are the patriarch, Jim, who pieced together the spread, and his grandsons James, a hulking drunkard, and Elmo, younger and smarter. On the periphery are three others: Gerald, an abandoned child taken in by the Clarks, and James' and Elmo's wives, Greta and Betty.
The family saga is told in a series of short stories spanning four decades, and each written from a separate point of view. Artistically, it's a smashing success. In simple, declarative prose and with masterful storytelling, Finney has created characters we come to care about deeply, despite their failures--or, perhaps more tellingly, because of them.
Finney writes about the salt of the earth in the tradition of Steinbeck. Wife-beating, hard-drinking James Clark and his moody, sensitive younger brother Elmo, pitted in rivalry over the same girl, work a rolling California plum orchard presided over by their crusty grandfather Jim. The land, held for three generations, but now slipping inexorably out of their grasp, is a curse for this luckless family. There are other losses too: the boys' mother walked out on them long ago; Grandpa Jim became estranged from his sister after a silly spat; Elmo will go on to fight in Vietnam to avoid his young bride, then come home shell-shocked, his skull fractured. This homespun, deceptively simple saga emerges like a jigsaw puzzle from the viewpoints of six different characters as it hops around from the 1950s through the '80s. It's a coming-of-age novel that keeps a sense of humor; in one scene Jim tells his girlfriend how beautiful she is, then promptly throws up. Without artifice, Finney ( Bird's Landing ) gives voice to his characters' rage, dreams, grief and love of the land.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
Shipping:
FREE
Within U.S.A.
Shipping:
US$ 6.99
Within U.S.A.
Seller: Isle of Books, Bozeman, MT, U.S.A.
Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Good. Seller Inventory # 301876
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: SecondSale, Montgomery, IL, U.S.A.
Condition: Good. Item in good condition. Textbooks may not include supplemental items i.e. CDs, access codes etc. Seller Inventory # 00055918046
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: Ash Grove Heirloom Books, Pueblo, CO, U.S.A.
Hardcover. Condition: Near Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Fine. 1st Edition. Book has a name and year written on the fly leaf. Dust jacket protected by a removable Brodart cover. Book. Seller Inventory # 006642
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: Willis Monie-Books, ABAA, Cooperstown, NY, U.S.A.
Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. Seller Inventory # 12783
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: MARK POST, BOOKSELLER, San Francisco, CA, U.S.A.
Hard Cover. First Edition, First printing. FINE IN FINE DJ. Seller Inventory # 1324
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: Bartleby's Books, Wilmington, VT, U.S.A.
Hardcover. Condition: New. Seller Inventory # 67634
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: Robinson Street Books, IOBA, Binghamton, NY, U.S.A.
Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Prompt shipment, with tracking. we ship in CLEAN SECURE BOXES NEW BOXES Very good in Very good nicked dust jacket. First Edition.*. Seller Inventory # nt921sd0069
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: Callaghan Books South, New Port Richey, FL, U.S.A.
Hardcover. Condition: Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. First Edition. (1st edition, 1st printing) Larger, sturdy book, purple cloth spine, lavender boards, very bright silver lettering on spine, lavender color inside covers and adjacent end papers, 239 pages. DJ heavy paper beneath mylar, a rose background of plum orchard on front, spine and back, at center front and back a color-illustrations of plums on branches. DJ has very slight surface wear spots on back, tiny tear at top front tip, a microtear at spine top right edge. Very Good DJ/Very Fine book. Seller Inventory # 547
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: Sandi's Bookshelf, Big Timber, MT, U.S.A.
Hardcover. Condition: As New. Dust Jacket Condition: As New. First Edition Stated. Lavender/red 1/4 bound, silver gilt on spine, lavender end papers, Illustrated DJ, 239pp. Signed by Author FEP. No marks nor clipped, nor ex-lib. Gift Quality.Unique volume.All our books are triple-wrapped or boxed, never shipped naked in mylar bag. Signed by Author(s). Seller Inventory # 801181
Quantity: 1 available