Autumn (Paperback)

On Sunday the church bells of Hillsboro rang out across the ripening fields with a grave and holy sound, and again at evening knocked faintly, with quiet sorrow, at doors where children watched for the first star, to make their wishes. Night came, and to the croaking of frogs, the moon rose over Barly Hill. In the early morning the grass, still wet with dew, chilled the bare toes of urchins on their way to school where, until four o'clock, the tranquil voice of Mr. Jeminy disputed with the hum of bees, and the far off clink of the blacksmith's forge in the village.

Robert Nathan (1894 1985) was born in New York City and educated at private schools in the United States and Switzerland. While attending Harvard, where he was a classmate of E. E. Cummings, he was an editor of the "Harvard Monthly", in which his first stories and poems appeared. After becoming a full-time writer, Nathan s work strengthened his reputation with both the public and peers. F. Scott Fitzgerald once referred to Nathan as his favorite writer. Five of his novels have been made into films, including "Portrait of Jennie" and "The Bishop s Wife". Nathan ultimately authored more than fifty volumes of novels, poetry, and plays, and from this body of distinguished work he acquired a reputation as a master of satiric fantasy.