THE FURYS

by James Hanley ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 16, 1935

An important book and keyed to a different audience from its predecessors, -- Boy and Men in Darkness. Powerful -- sordid, but in no sense salacious -- a saga of the scum of the working class, and a gripping emotional picture with no atom of sentimentalizing of their lives and problems. The Furys are a family living in an English shipping town, the father is a retired seaman, yearning toward the old life while he works in the engine yards; the mother is the dominant character, whose life lies in controlling the lives of those about her or in giving way to bouts of anger and bitterness when she meets failure. A strange character -- virago, with a streak of softness, toward the paralyzed father whose personality is a silent force, toward the son destined by her for the priesthood. It is a story of strange power; realism, with an undercurrent of understanding that emerges in reflected sympathy. The characters play their parts against a seething background of social turmoil, of strikes, of mob violence, of the impact of humans -- unthinking -- destroying each others' lives... Not a book for the squeamish who seek escape from reality. But a book that is sure to be widely discussed, extensively advertised and publicized, and a challenge to readers seeking something elemental in its vitality. There is something of the quality of the Russians in the telling.

Pub Date: July 16, 1935

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Macmillan

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1935

Categories: NONFICTION