THE GINKGO TREE

by Sheelagh Burns ‧ RELEASE DATE: N/A

The rack- to ruin- of Kate Donovan follows her self-destructive downgrade from the cocktail circuit of New York to an island in the Caribbean where, soaking in the sun- and rum, she goes really native with the dark-skinned Raoul. Moving away from a confining childhood with a spinster aunt in Brooklyn- to Greenwich Village, Kate, a pretty girl- and a bright one too- has a first love affair with Stewart, a commercial artist who is going places, but not, as she is too learn, with her. Cafe society, a copywriting job, an analyst's couch do not ease her unhappy days and nights and it is not until she isolates herself with Raoul- in an abandoned affair- that she is wholly satisfied. But pregnant, and hoping that Raoul will divorce his wife, she comes up against a Creole code stronger than her love, returns to New York to flaunt the world she has left. With the realization that she can give nothing, and ruins everything (to the reader this may also come as something of a surprise) she makes her final destructive gesture.... For worldlier tastes, a torch song, and along with the bitter words and blue notes there's a certain savage sophistication. Rentals.

Pub Date: N/A

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Rinehart

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1957

Categories: FICTION