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Ann Petry

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Country Place Hardcover – January 1, 1971

by Ann (Lane) Petry (Author)

4.4 38 ratings

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"Petry is the writer we have been waiting for; hers are the stories we need to fully illuminate the questions of our moment, while also offering a page-turning good time. Ann Petry, the woman, had it all, and so does her insightful, prescient and unputdownable prose." -- Tayari Jones, New York Times Book Review

From the author of the bestselling novel The Street, Ann Petry's classic 1947 novelportrays a small, sleepy New England town grappling with the indignities and lies of American life.

Johnnie Roane has come home from four years of fighting in World War II to his loving parents and his beautiful wife, Gloria. But his first doubts of Gloria's infidelity are created on the way home by the local taxi driver, a passionate gossip, and these doubts which mature with the hurricane that is bearing down on them darkening the seemingly perfect town of Lennox, Connecticut. But a greater violence lurks beneath the surface of the storm...Country Place is a classic, page-turning story that masterfully captures the transformation of small-town life in America from one of the twentieth century's finest writers.

"I've recently had my brain re-wired by Ann Petry, and it's that exhilarating feeling of falling in love with one of your lifetime writers for the first time." --Brandon Tyler

Print length

266 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Chatham Bookseller
Publication date

January 1, 1971
ISBN-10

0911860045
ISBN-13

978-0911860047
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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Chatham Bookseller (January 1, 1971)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 266 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0911860045
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0911860047
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.01 pounds

Customer Reviews:
4.4 38 ratings

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Ann Petry

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ANN PETRY (1908–1997) was a reporter, pharmacist, teacher, and community activist. She illuminated the range of black and white experience in her novels, short stories, and other writing. Her book The Street was the first novel by an African American woman to sell more than a million copies.

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shirley l scott

Great story

Reviewed in the United States on April 21, 2023

Great characters

Reviewed in the United States on March 4, 2019

I obtained this book from my local library (published in 1946 and after Ms. Petry’s best seller The Street, which I enjoyed). The author is an African American woman born in Saybrook, CT who earned a degree in pharmacy; her father was also a pharmacist. The setting is a small town, Lennox, CT, after WW 2, as told in part by the local pharmacist, Doc Fraser. His community pharmacy is the center of social activity, and he is well-acquainted with the characters. He sets the scene from the opening chapter that includes a list of the characters.
The story contains all the ingredients of an interesting read: greed, deception, town gossip, heartbreak, disappointment, lies, ‘a murder that did not quite come off’, as well as loyalty, love, and a satisfactory ending.
The story begins as Johnny Roane returns home on the train after serving 4 years in the army. He takes a taxi, driven by the Weasel, to his parents home. Before WW 2, Johnny married a local girl, Glory, who works at Perkins store and lives with johnny’s parents. During Johnny’s absence, Glory has developed an interest in the local used car salesman and gas station owner, Ed Barrell (also known as the town bull). Inconvenient truths are related throughout the story by the Weasel.
Similar to other small towns, Lennox has a wealthy family, Mrs. Gramby (83 years) and her adult son, Mearns, who recently married Glory’s mother, Lil. Mearns and Lil live with Mrs. Gramby, although Mearns is devoted to his mother, Lil is hoping for her quick demise. Mrs. Gramby and her housestaff play an important role in the story. Mrs. Gramby comes to realize that it is sheer folly to try and control the destiny of another person including her son.

3 people found this helpful

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Bonnye Reed Fry

A historical lesson you cannot put down....

Reviewed in the United States on March 19, 2019

First published in 1947 and again in 1971, this edition of Ann Petry's novel Country Place was published by Northwestern University Press. This is a classic look at the lives and world of Connecticut women in the time of World War II, where women were the ones who waited. We look at what you might make of this waiting time, what it takes from you, what is left for you at the end of the conflict. I think life is fairer in this day and age where participation in the War Machine by both sexes is accepted and perhaps expected.

I like to think the Glory and her mother in this novel are caricatures or extreme exceptions. I have never met anyone even similar to Glory, and certainly never a Lil. Thank goodness. But I can see where the social mores and expectations of the northeast in the 1940s could produce them.

Country Place is a slice of life in small-town Connecticut at the end of World War II. There were limited telephone communications, limited local newspapers and no internet or social media to expand the world Ann Petry and her peers lived in, and this is an interesting look into that world. I can happily recommend Country Place to my family and friends and hope that Northwestern University Press will bring forward other works by this author.

I received a free electronic copy of this classic novel from Netgalley, Ann Petry and Northwestern University Press in exchange for an honest review. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me.

2 people found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

the descriptive language of this book is a PLEASURE to read

Reviewed in the United States on October 18, 1999

I could not believe how wonderful the writing was in this book..I could see the grass blowing in the wind..I am reading & re-reading the Negro Classics..the books by Langston Hughes, Arna Bontempts & others...I will TREASURE this book forever.

9 people found this helpful

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Gracie

Good weekend read

Reviewed in the United States on September 11, 2020

Verified Purchase

I wondered about Lil----no character development of Lil or her daughter.
Interesting narration by Pop

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