THE SOUTHERNER

by Douglas Kiker ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 22, 1957

Jess Witherow, born in the South but educated in the North, inadvertently falls into a moral and personal dilemna. As a budding reporter for a Southern newspaper he hears about the impending attempt by a boyhood Negro friend to implement the Supreme Court decision on integration. By accompanying Will Taylor, his lawyer, wife and child to a white school on registration day he is implicated as a witness to their peaceful conversation with the principal who later accuses Will of physical assault. The event became a political showcase to promote the aspirations of Randolph, an unscrupulous white supremicist lawyer, at the expense of the Taylor family. Jess, of course, has a moral duty to testify at the trial but he is reluctant because- as a white person- he will be denounced as a ""igger lover"" and ostracized by his friends, community, employer, and prospective father-in-law. In spite of these personal pressures, he yields to his conscience and appears at the trial but to no avail -- Will is judged guilty and given a suspended sentence. Jess leaves the South as an expatriate but with the hope that someday he may return to all that he has lost. The interplay of a pertinent social ""question"" with an individual's quest for identity and a set of ethics is well-taken but we feel that the social emphasis will under-rate its potential in the novel market.

Pub Date: Aug. 22, 1957

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Rinehart

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1957

Categories: FICTION