VIPER IN THE FIST

by Herve Bazin ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 2, 1951

A nosegay of deadly nightshade for mother in this frenzied narrative of boyhood and adolescence under the domination of a savage mama. To the ancestral rock pile of the Rezeau family located in a part of France ""probably the most backward"", came M. Rezeau, who collected insects, and his vicious wife, to establish a home with their three sons. Immediately upon her arrival Freddie, Marcel and John, the narrator, feel their freedom ending, as their mother, named by them ""Folcoche"", turns the screws, creating a busy hell on earth. During the years, supervised mildly by a ""march of cassocks"" as tutors, the boys plot and John finally uses blackmail to win freedom to leave home although he will continue to spread the venom acquired from his mother. Too burlesqued, too much glum petulance to take seriously. Translated from the French. Offside play.

Pub Date: April 2, 1951

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Prentice-Hall

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1951

Categories: FICTION