A Southern Family [Paperback]

Gail Godwin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2001

The novels of Gail Godwin are contemporary classics -- evocative, powerfully affecting, beautifully crafted fiction alive with endearing, unforgettable characters. Her critically acclaimed work has placed her among the ranks of Eudora Welty, Pat Conroy, and Carson McCullers, firmly establishing Godwin as a Southern literary novelist for the ages.

In A Southern Famiy, the celebrated author of A Mother and Two Daughters, The Finishing School, and Father Melancholy's Daughter once again explores the shattering dynamics of parents' relationships with their children and themselves. It is the story of the Quick family and the reunion that leads to tragedy -- a masterful tale of anger and pain, of love and hatred, and of the understanding that ultimately heals.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

"All families have themselves problems," says Snow Mullins, one of the marvelously defined characters in this rich, rewarding novel, surely Godwin's best to date. Snow herself is one of the Quick family's problems: Theo Quick has married the uneducated (but shrewd) hillbilly woman to the chagrin of his upper-middle-class parents and siblings. Ralph and Lily Quick are not role models: their marriage has been deteriorating for many years, and their house on Quick's Hill in Mountain City, S.C., mirrors both their aspiring gentility and general decline. When Theo, separated from Snow, shoots another woman who apparently has rejected him, the shocking and never fully explained event is a catalyst for many changes and insights in the survivors' lives. Both Clare Quick, Lily's daughter by a first marriage, and Rafe, the younger brother, are plagued with guilt over their failures to heed Theo's desperation. Throughout the leisurely narrative, Godwin examines the traditional concept of family, and speculates on filial duty versus the need to live an independent life; she comments on Southerners as a particular breed, on the solace of Catholicism, and on the essential inscrutability of human relationships. Because Clare is a successful author who muses about her craft, one is very conscious of a writer's sensibility here. "The kind of fiction I was trying to write," Clare says, is deep breathing, reflective and with . . . a patience for detail." She also refers to the quality of "compassionate understanding." Those words describe this wise, humane, immensely appealing novel very well. 150,000 first printing; $200,000 ad/promo.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Not only can Southerners go home again, they must. But when they do, their individuality is assaulted by all the traditions, obligations, and loves they sought to escape. As Clare Lowndes, successful New York author, is visiting her family in North Carolina, the death of her gentle brother engulfs the survivors in old guilts. Strongly contrasted with Clare are her mother Lily who, in Clare's eyes, long ago surrendered her independence to a husband; childhood friend Julia, who left New York to nurse an invalid mother; and Snow, the dead man's estranged wife, who is now fighting the family for her son's identity. Recommended for all fiction collections as the best character study yet from the author of The Finishing School ( LJ 1/85). Maurice Taylor, Brunswick Cty. Lib., Southport, N.C.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 544 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks (January 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0380729873
• ISBN-13: 978-0380729876
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.4 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,441,799 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Gail Godwin is a three-time National Book Award finalist and the bestselling author of twelve critically acclaimed novels, including Unfinished Desires, A Mother and Two Daughters, Violet Clay, Father Melancholy's Daughter, Evensong, The Good Husband, and Evenings at Five. She is also the author of The Making of a Writer: Journals, 1961--1963, the first of two volumes, edited by Rob Neufeld. She has received a Guggenheim Fellowship, National Endowment for the Arts grants for both fiction and libretto writing, and the Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. She has written libretti for ten musical works with the composer Robert Starer. She lives in Woodstock, New York.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A moving, heartfelt, realistic novel, October 3, 2000

By 

Phyllis Fine (Brooklyn, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Southern Family (Paperback)

I've read all of Gail Godwin's books, and this is my favorite. She's working with material that seems to mean a great deal to her here --and it shows. The book is basically several character's reactions to a very tragic death. Each character is drawn exquisitely, coming alive through his or her own point-of-view chapters. In fact, this is the only one of Godwin's books to present the point of view of so many complex characters. I saw her in a bookstore seveal years ago and asked her what the origin of the book was, and she said she was working from a similar incident in real life--the death of her half-brother. So in this book she seems to be trying to come to terms with family conflicts by bringing each family member to life on the page. She does a wonderful job, going beyond any kind of therapy for herself into true art, taking her own pain and making it universal. I reread this book every once in a while, and found it especially useful recently because I was going through my own reactions to a death in my family. Yes, to respond to one of the other reviews, there is hatred here, and conflicts are not resolved. It's very, very true to life that way, complex and rich.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An extraordinary writer, March 7, 2005

By 

trainreader (Montclair, N.J.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Southern Family (Paperback)

Not for those looking for a suspenseful thriller, Gail Godwin is one of our best modern day writers, who is interested in character driven novels as opposed to those focusing on plot. Here, Clare, Ralph, Lily, Theo, Snow and others are feeling and thinking human beings who have positive and negative traits -- in other words, they are real people, living through a tragic and uncertain event. Even though the book is rather long, I did not want to leave these people, even in their grief.

If you enjoyed this book, I would also recommend Stuart O'Nan's "Wish You Were Here," as well as three Susan Howatch books: "Wheel of Fortune," The Rich are Different," and "Sins of the Fathers," which are all excellent examples of rotating the first person in each chapter (as is done here).

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting read, March 30, 2004

By 

Busy Mom (Ohio) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Southern Family (Hardcover)

If you are looking for a cheerful fluffy book ~~ this book isn't it. This is a detailed look into one family's life ~~ before, during and after the middle child dies. Actually, this book is more of reminisces ~~ a cluster of stories that revolved around the dead character as well as each individual characters' lives.

It's an interesting book ~~ but it did feel like it was dragging on too long in some places. It's depressing but uplifting at the same time. It's a look at the complicatated relationships between mother and son, husband and wife, wife and inlaws, brothers and sister, friends and so on. It's very fascinating ~~ a glimpse into people's private lives. The Quicks will be a family that you won't soon forget. There is Lily, the mother, Ralph, her husband, Clare, her daughter, Julia, Clare's friend from childhood on, Snow, the daughter-in-law and mother of the only grandchild, Felix, Clare's lover, Rafe, the younger brother and Theo, the middle child who kills himself and his girlfriend, leaving behind broken family ties that his family had to begin to ravel together again.

It's a book on life and grief and hope. It's well-written and thoughtful ~~ but it could have gone at least a 150 pages less ~~ but that's just my opinion.

3-30-04