PROUD YOUTH

by Alexander Eliot ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 9, 1953

An imagistic, intense but often embarrassingly explicit story of love- both sacred and profane- wavers between ecstasy and doom and follows the private purgatory of Michael, 19, Beatrice, his sister, 16, and the incestuous emotions they entertain toward each other. The guidance of Father Galleger, the catharsis of confession, and the ritual of the Church which has left a strong imprint on them both still does not counteract the unhealthy climate of their home, the bored marriage of their parents, their mother's dreadful memories of their birth, their father's liquor-released intimacies. And while Beatrice is willing to give herself to Michael, his failure to take her confirms the hopelessness of their love- and he attempts to suicide. But it is Father Gallegar who dies, while Michael finds his own ""time to be born"" and Beatrice becomes his sister once again. . . Traumatic torment which may not provoke a moral judgment as much as it offends your taste.

Pub Date: Sept. 9, 1953

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Farrar, Straus & Young

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1953

Categories: FICTION