FLOODS OF SPRING

by Henry Bellamann ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 18, 1942

The author of King's Row has turned back the years to Missouri, not far from King's Row, a countryside struggling to rebuild after the bitterness of the Civil War. The aftermath is still a blight on the land, and the hatred against Yankee dominates other impulses. Into this situation, comes a strange young couple, Peter Kettring, who wants to wipe out the past, the hurt the war has dealt him, and Savina his lovely young wife, a shy girl who speaks only the German of her Pennsylvania Dutch background. Peter' is a wholly canalized personality, grooved to one thought, reclaiming the land he has chosen for his farm. He cuts himself off from his fellows, first through inclination, then through the rumors that have grown up around him and which he does nothing to allay. Fear rules his household, his children and wife are shut off from others, except for a Rohemian couple. David wants to get away -- and goes -- and his father cuts him off; Robby wanted to be a poet not a farmer --and his father caused his death. The story of a blighting warping personality, turning the blight inwards and losing all -- or almost all. There is some of the morbidness, but not the perversions of the other book. A better integrated novel, but not as sensational -- perhaps not as popular.

Pub Date: May 18, 1942

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1942

Categories: FICTION