IN THE LAND OF MORNING

by Harry Mark Petrakis ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 12, 1973

Writers of ethnic-centered fiction too often fortify the contemporary scene with ancient glories -- via that symbol of generational fertility, the furnace-loined superwoman whose emotions are thigh-high. And sure enough Petrakis' prime mover here is the stormy matron Asmene, with a prow like the Pillars of Hercules and a beam broad as the Aegean. And her lover could only be the local gang-lord Gallos (""Poseidon. . . . My great shaggy God of the water"") who drove Asmene's late husband out of business and out of life, and who entertains in his restaurant the old men who used to kill for him. Asmene's son Alex returns from Vietnam full of horror, and although soothed by the young war widow Ellie, daughter of Father Naoum, soon is pulled into his mother's maelstrom. His ill sister's hatred sets the tone, and when he learns of his mother's affair and Gallos' beating of his best friend, Alex participates in Gallos' murder. At the end Asmene, remnant of a cursed family, is beginning to shrivel into old age; Alex and Ellie tentatively move to help one another as Alex moves to Kansas; and Father Naoum offers appropriate thoughts on life's renewal after travail. Too often the characters talk in friezes (""I think,"" intones Asmene, ""of night as a mighty seamstress knitting together the tom fabric of the day""). But when Petrakis is not mixing Chicago with Mt. Olympus, he writes with honest ease and this novel is expected to reach a stronger audience than heretofore.

Pub Date: March 12, 1973

ISBN: 0595446043

Page Count: -

Publisher: McKay

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1973

Categories: FICTION