COTTON WEB

by Barbara Hunt ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 28, 1960

The evenly interesting if rarely exciting story of Kitty McCarran, an Irish girl, traces her high hopes to which her lovely looks will be contributory as she comes from New York to make a fresh start in the Fall River of 1901. Loveless but yielding, she fails to secure marriage from Lucian Olney, the petulant and often cruel son of millowner Barnabas Olney, so that when she is left with Lucian's child- it is Barnabas, a man of principle, who makes good his son's default--- first by giving Kitty a house and a small income which she invests well, later by making her his wife to give his grandson a name. While this initially paraphrases the situation of The Philadelphian the resemblance stops right here; Kitty is a shrewd and shrewish type, and the decline of her fortunes, which is that of northern cotton in the strike and depression years to follow, is unregretted. Barnabas and her boy, Rafe, have a warm relationship which excludes her- leaves her to pick up with Lucian again in the later years.... A straightforward story solidified by the period, by the particular problems of this industry, by immigrant types (Irish chiefly) working their way up in the New World.

Pub Date: March 28, 1960

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Dutton

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1960

Categories: FICTION