Moving, visceral writing... but the endings were flat. The stories would build up some steam and then usually derail right at the end. Other than that detail, I enjoyed the read!

Short stories collections can be very hit or miss. Too often a bad story can bring the whole book down. Unfortunately, that's what happened with this book.

An uneven book of short stories originally published in the 1950s. It deals with the South and all the politics and portrayals that you'd expect with a mix of magical realism. The stories range from ~1920's to present (which was 1950's for the publication of this book).

Different stories have different writing styles, for instance White Girl Fine Girl reminded me of Faulkner's Sound and the Fury in terms of not quite getting it on the first read through. There's a lot of hidden messages in the stories, metaphors and references, that I'm sure I've missed a lot. And perhaps my inability to enjoy some stories were due to the fact that there were some thing that just flew over my head.

I do think what would have helped would have been perhaps something written about each story to give it context. While it wouldn't have been necessary when the book was initially published, the republication at this point needs it. However, how the author chose to deal with classism, racism, sexism in the American South was unique even by today's standards and I do appreciate that.

I believe that I anticipated this to be something other than what it was, so I was quickly disappointed and stopped reading.

I've said this many, many times. Short stories are my bread and butter. Shirley Ann Grau has created a world full of swamps and magic. Following the vein of Flannery O'Conner, these stories open the reader into world that isn't so unfamiliar to those not from the South.

Gender, race and and economic status are all key points in these stories. My favorite of the bunch includes "The Girl with the Flaxen Hair" and "One Summer". This won't be my last time reading this collection, I can't wait to revisit these characters again.

This novel was okay but nothing great. It had good and bad elements. I feel there was a lot of hidden meanings to most of the stories that I just couldn't fully appreciate, like the swamps being able to listen to conversations or dreams conveying your emotions/future. I forced myself to read this novel but I didn't enjoy it. The one thing that would have made this novel better is if each story had a date attached, that way I wouldn't be forced to guess the era the story took place in (usually ranged from prohibition to WW2). The portrayal of how black people were treated and gender roles was well written though.

White Girl. Fine Girl
Jayson, the main character, is just released from prison and he decides to go back to his old hometown. While there he visits old friends, acquaintances and his old girlfriend. I wasn’t sure what the purpose of the story was as Jayson doesn’t do anything memorable. The story does do a good job of showing everyday life for people and the inequality woman feel. The grammar, spelling and word structure was weird and there were words that I have never heard of before (example Iffen or corn likker). I think this story takes place during the prohibition. I got used to the writing style as the novel progressed though.

The Black Prince
This story follows Alberta and Stanley Albert Thompson. They fall in love and marry but everyone is jealous so the town turns against them. Things don’t go as well for the town as they wanted. This story ended with a folktale feel to it which was a unique.

Miss Yellow Eyes
This story follows one family during the war. Chris and Ceclia fall in love and marry a few months before Chris decides to enlist and join the war. This puts pressure on Pete but he has an accident at work that takes his hand. Everyone accuses Pete of injuring himself on purpose just so he wouldn't have to join the war and die like everyone else. This is one of the better stories in the novel as it details the horrors of war, the damage it can do to a family and how black and white people are treated differently at hospitals (a minor injury to a black person results in an amputation).

The Girl with the Flaxen Hair
Pamela Langley returns to her hometown after exploring the world for thirty plus years. She couldn't have returned at a worse time as a will in currently in dispute and she is sole heir. If she would have returned later her cousin's would have gotten the money, but with her in town they may not. This story is a good illustration of human greed, family dynamics and a guilty conscience.

The Bright Day
MacDonald's grandfather dies and a funeral is arranged. This story dragged on way too much in certain parts but it did reflect nicely on death and how different people handle it. Some people get angry, sad, or jealous (if they are old and looking death in the face while young people surround themselves with life and happiness).

Fever Flower
This story follows Katherine and Hugh (once married but now divorced), their daughter Maureen and their helper Annie. The story follow just an average day with foresight into each of their future. Had no idea what the purpose of the ending was though.

The Way of the Man
Williams, a seventeen year olf man runs into trouble so he asks his father for help. Once again his father refuses to help so William takes matters into his own hands. I liked the portrayal of gender roles and attitudes in this story.

One Summer
Joshua's parents aren't providing well for him. He usually goes hungry and has worn out clothing. So Joshua decides to take up his father trade for a day and see how it goes. This story was also far too long and contained way too many details. I liked the introduction of dreams and their hidden symbolism.

Like most short story collections, I loved some stories and I hated some stories so it's hard to accurately rate the collection as a whole. The overall rating must then come from what was consistent in each story.

The stories all focus on the American South and various people and families living there. You can feel the underlying class and race divides but they are rarely a major feature which I found interesting. The writing is to the point but does a fine job of building the atmosphere for the reader. At times I felt like I could hear, see, and smell the setting around me. I only wish that more attention had been paid to maintaining this feeling throughout each story as I felt descriptions of place were mostly concentrated in the first few paragraphs.

Some of the stories towards the middle I found to be too short and fairly uneventful. I didn't see the purpose to them except to bulk up the collection by a few pages which would have been better done by adding more descriptions to the stronger stories. I don't think this collection is particularly illuminating of its subject matter but it is a nice read with a feeling of nostalgia that fell just a bit short of my expectations.

This was a most unusual read for me because I almost never read short stories. However when I saw the authors name I knew I had to have it. I have read other books by Shirley Ann Grau and she never disappoints This group of stories are all set in the south in a time when race relations were not good. The stories deal with this subject as well as poverty, abuse, and the many social problems of the time. I would highly recommend this book for anyone who likes to read about the south and also about this particular time frame in our history.