THE GARDEN OF ADONIS

An indictment of a system in a stark picture of a Southern aristocracy gone to seed, of a plantation unable to produce for owner or tenants, of false social standards and class levels. Moral irresponsibility, poverty that forces issues, tragedy inescapable. And while tragedy stalks, the story is told looking backward into basic causes and sordid motives. It is a better integrated book than her two previous ones, it shows a distinct advance in structure and condensation, but it lacks the glamor of the previous backgrounds, -- first, the sporting country; second, the Civil War.