Weeds - Hardcover

Kelley, Edith Summers

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0809305879 ISBN 13: 9780809305872

Publisher: Southern Illinois University Press, 1972

Synopsis

Weeds was published by Harcourt Brace in 1923 and also brought out in England by Jonathan Cape. Despite favorable re­views by well-regarded critics the book made no impact, and Edith Summers Kelley never published another novel.

 

Its reprinting here in this innovative series which brought back Zelda Fitz­gerald’s Save Me the Waltz is in the opin­ion of the publishers a literary event of great magnitude—perhaps equal to the rediscovery of Henry Roth’s Call It Sleep.

 

Weeds portrays the monotonous, drudg­ing life of the small tenant farmer of the tobacco fields of Kentucky. The story centers around Judith Pippinger, who has spirit, beauty, and a restless seeking for a purpose in life, but who is brutalized by farm life.

 

It is not a dramatic novel, as Matthew Bruccoli notes in his Introduction to this neglected masterpiece. But it is convinc­ing. The people live. On two counts this book is important. It is a perfectly controlled work of fiction, and therefore has the automatic worth that any superior piece of literature has. Also, it has his­torical value as a peak achievement in the revolt-from-the-farm school of naturalistic American fiction. Edith Summers Kelley was the last writer in the Hamlin Garland, E. W. Howe, Joseph Kirkland line of de­velopment.

 

Aside from its probable worth as social history, Weeds is highly readable. Read­ers will find here plausible people in a beautifully-handled realistic setting. In­teresting to note, the novel’s strongest supporter heretofore was Sinclair Lewis, who was engaged to the author. In the opinion of Professor Bruccoli, Weeds is as good as Main Street.

About this title

Review

Coming of age is a shock to almost anyone's system but imagine being like Kelley's character Judith Pippinger: spirited, creative, strong, yet facing nothing more fulfilling in life than the poverty and deprivation of a rural life. As with any lifetime, the human spirit provides moments of beauty, laughter and power-reserves upon which Judith must depend to survive a failing marriage, a disastrous love affair and the impending death of one of her daughters. The original manuscript contained a scene of rural childbirth deemed too graphic for readers and which was cut before publication. This complete edition includes that restored chapter.

About the Author

Matthew J. Bruccoli is Professor of Eng­lish at the University of South Carolina.

About this edition

• Publisher: Southern Illinois University Press
• Publication date: 1972
• ISBN 10: 0809305879
• ISBN 13: 9780809305872
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 352