A FIELD FULL OF PEOPLE

by Robert Hazel ‧ RELEASE DATE: N/A

The fruit of this field is bitter and shrivels on the stalk...In his second novel (see p. 158, March 1, 1953 Bulletin for review of The Lost Year), Robert Hazel has written a fate-haunted book of some power. Through a single cycle of the seasons, the bitter harvest is sown and reaped by Tom Flood, his family, and the neighboring Crashaws, close as kin. Tom's mother, driven by her guilt, sees her punishment for conceiving him before marriage in a devilish birthmark, and her compulsiveness pushes him on his way; his loving grandfather, dying of cancer, cannot save him with his wisdom and understanding. Tom's foolery turns to tragedy when drunken driving leads to his friend Willie Crashaw's death and heartbroken Luke Crashaw cannot forgive him. Banished from Katy Crashaw, already his woman by rights of mutual passion, Tom nurtures his downfall by marrying the beloved of the one youth who has stayed with him, grateful for Tom's earlier generosity- -a step deemed necessary because of pregnancy. With the spring, Tom breaks from the bondage imposed by frozen hearts -- heedless of those broken and those thawed, he consummates his love with Katy and faces destruction at her father's hand. A compelling sense of inevitability timed by nature's seasons and man's heart marks a book of a beauty and effectiveness at times marred by overexplicitness.

Pub Date: N/A

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: World

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1954

Categories: FICTION