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Customer Reviews

29 Reviews

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(3)

Average Customer Review

3.6 out of 5 stars (29 customer reviews)

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28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best book Siddons has ever written!, August 22, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Fox's Earth (Mass Market Paperback)

The synopsis of this book is misleading. It oversimplifies the story. This wonderful book traces three generations of women, their parents, husbands, children and servants. It plows new ground in insanity, cruelty, and child abuse. This is probably the first book Ann wrote because it is truly the great American novel. The best book Siddons has ever written!

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31 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars FRIGHTENING...........WELL WRITTEN, October 2, 2001

By

Heather Marshall Negahdar "Haze" (Bridgetown, Barbados) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fox's Earth (Mass Market Paperback)

I have to give Fox's Earth five stars as this book has been so well written. Set in the Southern state of Georgia, Siddons delves into the lives of three generations of women.

The main character is Ruth Yancey, the daughter of impoverished and demented mill worker Cater. Cater is an embarassment to his family and makes a spectacle of himself on market days as he leads them shepherd-like into town, where he cusses and carries on any person he encounters who is better off financially than he. Returning home in a drunken state he strips his wife Pearl Yancey and daughter Ruth of what little self esteem they have, with brutal beatings,horrible rapings and screams which can be heard far into the night.

It isn't any wonder then that at such an early age, Ruth Yancey is forced to embrace the adoption offered by the seniors of Fox's Earth; Alicia and Claud Fox. Pearl Yancey convinces Ruth that going there will be the answer to all her dreams and the end of her nightmares. So they wait impatiently until Cater Yancey's death, and then Ruth is driven by Alicia Fox's chauffeur
to her new life.

The story takes full swing from here with Alicia turning Ruth into the lady who should be readily accepted by society. She learns all the social graces and proper etiquette, and all the finer things of life. Soon Paul Fox, son of Fox's Earth takes her hand in marriage and she now feels more in control.

See how quickly Ruth Yancey Fox forgets where she has arrived from, as she gains power over all her contacts by evil manipulations and such unpleasant dominance she lauds over all who live at the 'big house'including her husband and eventually the coming generations of Fox's children. It almost leaves you with your mouth open to see such ruthlessnes; for Ruth Yancey Fox rules, and she rules with a very long whip. A whip which leaves indelible marks. A highly recommended saga from Siddons.

Reviewed by Heather Marshall Negahdar (SUGAR-CANE October 2nd, 2001)

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16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An epic story of southern grandness and madness, March 1, 2000

By

Jim McLeane - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fox's Earth (Mass Market Paperback)

This is the 3rd book I have read by Ms. Siddons, and so far the best. I am looking forward to reading every book she has written now, and intend to do so. I hope more people get a chance to experience this little-known early novel by this author. Ms. Siddons has wonderful descriptive powers and sense of location, and makes you feel as if you are right there experiencing the events along with the characters.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Southern Gothic
It is extremely hard to find a used copy of this book (other than on Amazon), and that says volumes about how good the story is. No one wants to give it up! Read more

Published 5 months ago by Rachel S

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book!
I have read almost all of Anne Rivers Siddons books and thought them a great, light, read with a predictable plot and ending. Wow! Read more

Published 8 months ago by jeepnchik

5.0 out of 5 stars Classic Siddons - haunting.
I see by so many of the reviews of this book that Ms. Siddons hit her mark. The book is extremely disturbing and none of us wants to believe that there are people like Ruth Fox... Read more

Published 12 months ago by Jan-Micheal

3.0 out of 5 stars Haunting---literally.
I was about 2 1/2 chapters in to this book. I was absorbed. The writer has done an excellent job of painting her characters and their environment. Read more

Published on November 7, 2009 by N. Fuller

1.0 out of 5 stars Less than 1 star- Wish I hadn't spent the time and money on it
I got 1/3 of the way through the book and I stopped reading it and never resumed. Wish I had stopped after the first chapter. I gave the book away. Read more

Published on July 26, 2009 by AReader

1.0 out of 5 stars Appalling, shocking . . . dreck.
It is well written, with southern period vocabulary. Very colorful and descriptive though unrelentingly dark and gloomy. It reminded me of that book "flowers in the attic"(? Read more

Published on July 10, 2009 by Dave Foley

4.0 out of 5 stars fox's earth
this book was a bit different than what i have come to expect from anne rivers siddons, her main character was not at all likeable, and that surprised me, but mrs siddons paints... Read more

Published on May 28, 2009 by Delores E. Hendricks

2.0 out of 5 stars Ugh
I wish I could have liked just one character besides Rip who was almost too saintly until the end. This book was very disappointing, and I really wanted to quit reading, but I... Read more

Published on May 18, 2009 by Rare Bird

3.0 out of 5 stars Gorgeous writing, disturbing book
This book wins points for the sheer beauty of the prose - Ms. Siddons's words flow like poetry, and I loved the book's beginning in spite of the brutality of Ruth's father and the... Read more

Published on November 4, 2008 by simple logic

3.0 out of 5 stars amost depressing
I enjoy Ann Rivers Siddons' books---but this one was hard to get through.
The main character was so mean that you just wanted to reach in there and kill her. Read more

Published on October 25, 2008 by Marcia Lee Darby

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Inside This Book (learn more)
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First Sentence:
BY TWO P.M. THEY HAD WALKED FOR HALF AN HOUR, THE man and his family, and the sweat of that sun-blanched September Saturday in 1903 lay sour in waistbands and collars and dampened pale hair and ran rank down thin necks and backs and legs. Read the first page

Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
gilt hair, great white house, tester bed

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Ruth Fox, Jacob Lee, Miss Ruth, Miss Nell, Ruth Yancey Fox, Paul Fox, Alicia Fox, Johnny Geiger, Church Street, New York, Lewis Wolfe, Cater Yancey, Phillips Jay, Miss Hebe, Nell Geiger, Claudius Fox, Hebe Fox, Miss Yancey, Pearl Steed Yancey, Stuart Hill, Christmas Eve, New England, Jester Tully, Mama Alicia, Miz Fox

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