The View from Delphi [Hardcover]

Jonathan Odell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 2004

Two young mothers have each lost a child, but they overcome their racial differences to bring about justice in a pre-Civil Rights Mississippi town.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Prejudice threatens to tear apart a small Mississippi town during the 1950s in Odell's first novel, a well-told but familiar and slow-moving story about a pair of families who find their lives altered by the bigotry of a small-minded sheriff. Hazel Ishee Graham is a backwoods farm girl who uses her beauty to attract Floyd Graham, the ambitious man who becomes her husband and the most successful car salesman in tiny Delphi. On the other side of town, preacher Levi Snow and his daughter, Vida, are being harassed by the cartoonishly piggish sheriff, Billy Dean Brister. The sheriff, who uses the influence of the local senator who got him elected to keep the populace under his thumb, rapes Vida and terrorizes the family after her child is sent away. Meanwhile, one of Hazel's two sons is killed in an accident, and Hazel indulges her proclivities for fast driving and strong spirits, crashing into a life-size nativity scene. This prompts Floyd to hire Vida as a maid to keep Hazel under control. In a series of parallel subplots, both Floyd and Billy Dean have affairs with the senator's comely daughter, Delia. But the pace crawls when Odell lingers over mundane scenes of daily life in Delphi, and flabby prose mutes the novel's dramatic climax. Odell clearly knows his setting and shows obvious compassion for his characters, but the combination of extraneous scenes, too many Southern stereotypes in the character roster and an overly familiar plot keeps his debut ploddingly earthbound.
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From Booklist

The lowlands of Delphi, Mississippi--a small town in the pre-civil rights era-- hold the cotton fields of the wealthy and the shanties of the black sharecroppers who serve them, in. The homes of the town's white citizenry sit on higher ground, reflecting the rigid racial and social stratification. Underlying the social stratification are layers of emotional and relational ties that bring together two women struggling to recover from the loss of their sons. Hazel Graham, who came to Delphi from the Appalachians with her ambitious husband, Floyd, is gradually losing herself to alcoholism and medical sedation. Hazel's maid, Vida, a lifelong resident and daughter of a local minister who has fallen from the favor of the powerful senator, is simmering with vengeance and determined to find her lost son. With the commonality of their loss and the sense of invisibility within the constraints of the small town, the two women move from loathing to mutual reliance and finally friendship on the eve of social changes seeping into the South. Vanessa Bush
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 330 pages
• Publisher: Macadam Cage Pub (May 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1931561680
• ISBN-13: 978-1931561686
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,635,963 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

An epic novel, both engrossing and poignant, about freedom, identity, and resurrection of the spirit in the pre-Civil War South.

Insane with grief at the death of her daughter, plantation mistress Amanda Satterfield steals a newborn slave from its mother, christens the infant Granada, and presents the child in her own daughter's clothes at public events, much to the outrage of her husband, whom she blames for her daughter's death. Seeing no ordinary remedy for his wife's madness and terrified of losing his slave population to a mysterious plague, Amanda's husband purchases Polly Shine, a thorny old healer whose sharp tongue and seditious predictions unsettle and enrage the plantation. Is Polly a clever charlatan, meddlesome witch, or divine redeemer?

When Polly recognizes "the gift" in Granada, now a willful, house-raised slave of twelve, a battle of wills erupts that persists over four generations and the most decisive moments in American racial history. Will Granada come to terms with her history, her people, and her destiny?

Grounded in exhaustive research and interviews with descendants of slaves and slave owners, The Healing weaves together the lives of three strong women into a powerful and poignant saga, a testament to the potential of story to heal the soul of a people.

JONATHAN ODELL is the author of the acclaimed novel The View from Delphi, the story of the struggle for equality in pre-civil rights Mississippi, his home state. His short stories and essays have appeared in numerous collections. He spent his business career as a leadership coach to Fortune 500 companies and currently resides in Minnesota.

http://jon-odell.com/

https://www.facebook.com/jonohohoh

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This Is A Great Read!, May 21, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: The View from Delphi (Hardcover)

I couldn't disagree more with the Publishers Weekly review. I found Odell's story of race, family and mid-century southern life engaging, fast-paced and moving. This is a remarkably literate first novel with an extraordinary sense of place, time and character. Dark humor permeates the story, and yet Odell never concedes to condescention or cynicism. His characters are archetypal without ever becoming stereotypical. Coming at a time when we celebrate the 50th anniversary of Brown v Board of Ed, and when the federal government has agreed to re-open the murder case of Emmett Till, this novel has an immediacy and relevance to the present. If you're looking for a refreshing change from the Hollywood-Action-Movie-Styled blood-and-violence potboilers that fill bookstore stacks this time of year, this is the novel to read.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A contrast in black and white, May 31, 2004

By 

Luan Gaines "luansos" (Dana Point, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The View from Delphi (Hardcover)

After running away from her poverty-stricken, hardscrabble family life in the rugged Appalachia mountains, Hazel Ishee finds employment in a drug store, until she meets her future husband, a young man from a similar background, with dreams of his own. The industrious Floyd sells machinery all over the Mississippi Delta, eventually realizing his aspirations, when he moves his family into the upper-class neighborhood he covets, anxious to belong in that society. Meanwhile, Hazel struggles with overwhelming feeling of inadequacy that leaches the enjoyment from her comfortable days. Even their two sons cannot relieve Hazel`s downward spiral, which is only alleviated by the alcohol she drinks excessively. The drinking brings a whole new set of problems for a woman unprepared to deal with a successful marriage and comfortable lifestyle.

Vida's disillusionment is of another kind. A young girl from a prominent black Delta family, Vida gives birth at fifteen to the child of a white man, tormented by her sense of disgrace she brings to her family. Vida's father is the local preacher, full of fine words, until faced with the reality of his daughter's illegitimate child. When the biological father of Vida's baby is appointed sheriff he wants the child out of sight, afraid of the damage to his reputation and his political aspirations. Vida's family's fortunes fail and she is haunted by the loss of her baby. She and her brother are forced to work the land they once lived on.

The years pass, and Vida is hired as a maid to the incompetent Hazel, who has also lost a son; Vida's primary duty is giving Hazel the medication that sends her spoiled charge spinning into oblivion every morning, yet the two women's mutual need is the closest thing either has to friendship. Hazel's remaining son lurks in the shadows, spying on Vida and yearning for the attentions of his self-absorbed mother.

Author Odell concocts enough twists and turns to stand the Mason-Dixon Line on its head as Civil Rights comes to the South; just as the movement begins with Rosa Parks' rebellion, circumstances shift in subtle ways for Vida and Hazel and the two enemies eye each other warily, establishing a shaky friendship. Bone-tired and heartsick, each of them has struggled alone for far too long. Their strange relationship turns into an unexpected bonus for women who are unused to friendship or trust.

The View from Delphi is well-intentioned, with liberal use of local dialect and the colorful phrasing of the Delta, as well as the fallout from years of racial abuse and discrimination. Reminiscent of Tademy's Cane River, this novel has the same folksy dialog, if a few too many too many rambling conversations. Doubtless, this novel will have a popular following, with its unusual assortment of eccentric characters and the historical import of the Civil Rights movement. Luan Gaines/2004.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars BOOK CLUB FAVORITE & PERSONAL FAVORITE, November 16, 2004

By 

Laura K (Atlanta) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The View from Delphi (Hardcover)

A member of my book club chose this book and I took it with me on vacation. I was thinking I was going to "struggle" through it since it wasn't the typical quick-light vacation read!

WOW! WOW! WOW!!

I couldn't put this book down. Every night, while cruising the Mediterranean I couldn't wait to read this book!! It is a true reflection of the attitudes of the south, and conveys the subtle dynamics between people. I was transported from my cruise to the south!!

This book is one of our all-time favorites...we have also loved reading Barbara Kingsolver- The Poisinwood Bible, The Red Tent, The Lovely Bones, Anna Karinana, White Oleander, Memoirs of a Geisha, etc.

The View From Delphi stands up to all of these in a mesmorizing and memorable manner! ENJOY!!!