A STATE IN MIMOSA

by Robert Tallant ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 9, 1950

Mimosa was deeply Southern and deeply afraid of divergence from the conventional. John Caliph had been born there but he had been away so long that he no longer fitted the pattern, and to make things worse, when he came back, he brought with him two D.P.'s, of whom the community of Minosa was suspicious and fearful. John was labelled a ""disturber"" by the small town newspaper magnate and boss, and the results were suspiciously like fascist disturbances in Europe, -- smashed windows, threatening signs, and whispering campaigns. Then came the fire-and the leaders of the persecution forces had their weapon, and used it to destroy what sanity poor broken Ben had built up since the days of concentration camps. The end was more violence, more broken lives- but out of it, John and Ellen had won some measure of freedom. A strange and haunted sort of story, more mature, perhaps, than his earlier books, but with none of the light-hearted opera bouffe flavor that characterized them. There is still an unreality here, even in his soberest moments, an exaggeration that makes the serious undertones less credible than intended. Tallant can write; his manner seems of more moment than his matter.

Pub Date: Nov. 9, 1950

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Doubleday

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1950

Categories: FICTION