THE HOUSE IN THE UPLANDS

by Erskine Caldwell ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 24, 1946

Caldwell deserts his poor whites for a naked picture of the deterioration and decadence of the down and out aristocracy of the South, in the story of Grady Dunbar who preferred colored girls, drink and gambling, to his bride, Lucyanne. Lucyanne, terribly in love and avoiding the warnings about the Dunbar reputation, hopes for Grady's rehabilitation, has her doubts confirmed when Grady refuses to let an old colored couple leave to live in town, has her love killed when she finds Grady with the colored girl, Sallio John. She tries to run away, is found and cared for by the Harrisons, white tenants of Grady's. Brad, the son, would help her, but his father's subservience to Grady thwarts him. Grady takes her home, beats her and threatens her, until she is saved by the arrival of the gambler, Skeeter Wilhite, who shoots it out with Grady and Grady is killed. The peonage of blacks and whites, the sense of the times changing faster than the reactionaries, the hope in the younger generations of blacks and whites, the cold justice of the older white people, all underline the intense, rousing importance of the color question in the South. This is assured a press- and a public.

Pub Date: April 24, 1946

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Duell, Sloan & Pearce

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1946

Categories: FICTION