FLOW TO THE LEAF

The personal problems of a long, diffuse roster of Olivers, from father Pitman to his confused, sometimes despairing grandchildren, on their demanding Ohio farm land. The father, who could not retire because of his love of the land; his daughter Kit who alone escaped her father's strong hold if at the cost of scandal; Frank who loved books and learning but was in bondage to the old homestead which Sid, with his love for farming craved; Seeley who, as a bank teller, could do nothing but worry over his family's affair and in the next generation, Anthony who learned he must get away but whose high pitch betrays him in an early crisis; Paul who too learns that farming is not for him. It is city folk, avid for property and ready with new methods and equipment who are instrumental in Pitman's keeping his dream of handing down the family farm, and in Kit's finding compensation in helping Anthony. A compassionate picture of the power of possessive feeling for land, the dark unhappiness of frustrations and ambitions, this has a heightened sensitivity for the pull of farming.