Safe Return Doubtful

Most of Caldwell’s writing depicts the harsh realities of life in the American South in the Depression. This is one of his early novels, following the brilliant Tobacco Road. Both novels have sold more than ten million copies, though both were banned from public libraries and places of education in the south until the 1950s.

Caldwell was panned by critics at the time, and even prosecuted for obscenity (though found not guilty) in the case of this book. At the end of his life though, he was recognised as a great of American literature.

As with Tobacco Road this portrays the South as overrun by racism, ignorance and widespread social injustice.

Ty Ty Walden thinks of himself as a good Christian, and has tithed the proceeds of an acre on his Georgia farm to the church. But he has gold fever, convinced that somewhere on his land is a rich vein of gold just waiting to be dug up. For the last fifteen years, he and his family have been digging holes, though each time he starts a new hole, he moves God’s Little Acre further away.
Ty Ty has five children. The eldest, Jim Leslie, realised early on that all this talk of gold was hogwash, moved away to Augusta, married into money, and has no contact with the rest of the family. Buck found a beautiful bride, Griselda, and brought her back to the farm. Rosamond married a South Carolina mill worker named Will Thompson and lives nearby in Scottsville. Shaw is a quiet and unmarried, and Darling Jill is single, but crazy about men.

It’s not as dark as Tobacco Road, and has much more humour in it, a bit too much. The is a cast of oddballs, all comedic in their own way. Published in 1933 it is not difficult to see the strong influence it had on Southern literature; particularly I think of Harry Crews, of whose writing I am a huge fan.

My GoodReads score 4 / 5