THE BARKING OF A LONELY FOX

by Guido D'Agostino ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 30, 1952

A two-family panel which follows the uncertain livelihood of the land and which brings an honest vitality to the story of Tim O'Malley and Mike Baretto, Pennsylvania farmers, whose close friendship in childhood had turned to enmity with Tim's success, while Mike keeps up an uneven struggle to hold his farm. It is Julian, Mike's foster son, who converts the farm to blooded cattle, proves a kinship with the family more real than that of Alf, his son, and Gloria, his daughter, who hates the poverty and isolation of the life there. In love with Lucille O'Malley, Julian loses her -- a first time to a war marriage, a second time when he rejects her father's offer of his farm along with marriage -- out of loyalty to the Barettos who will lose the success he has made for them -- once he goes. And with the loss of Lucille, Julian submits to the predatory demands and desires of Gloria, marries her, finds a compromise happiness, while the O'Malleys and their Fox Ledge deteriorate beyond reclamation.... A blunt, harsh, holding portrayal of husbandry -- both animal and domestic, of a way of life which is hard and slow to succeed, of bitter feeling -- and broken power, which mirrors the instinctual pattern of the outdoor world and derives more than a little realism.

Pub Date: April 30, 1952

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: McGraw-Hill

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1952

Categories: FICTION