THE CHANDLER HERITAGE

by Ben Haas ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 1, 1971

Another Carpetbaggers type, weaker on sex, heavier on the son-living-up-to-the-father theme. Bolivar Chandler, semi-orphaned by the War Between the States, works towards success with puritanical mania as he resurrects bankrupt cotton mills (for the sake of its starving employees with whom he prays before the start of each working day) into thriving business and a corporation town called Chandlerville. This paternalistic sense of mission transmits itself to his estranged war-hero-most-successful-playwright-of-the-decade son, but founders with the next generation in complications activated by the Klan, union organizers, and the inevitable incest. No originality and about half the chapters are written in awkward flashback fashion, but the story is oddly compelling until one puts it down, when it vanishes like the smoke from the apocalyptic burning of the family mansion that ends the book.

Pub Date: Jan. 1, 1971

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1971

Categories: FICTION