William
Maxwell was one of my favorite writers. He died about twenty years ago
leaving a handful of novels and many shorts stories and essays. My
favorite of his novels is TIME WILL DARKEN IT.
When
the King family is paid a visit from distant Southern relatives, Austin
King, eager to impress a female cousin and repay their kindness to his
father, behaves in such a way as to threaten his marriage, his law
practice, and his reputation as a young attorney. His pregnant wife is especially torn asunder by his actions.
Maxwell
makes every character in this seemingly ordinary story come to life. I
can't think of many books I closed so reluctantly and yet with such
complete satisfaction. His novels include:
- Bright Center of Heaven (1934)
- They Came Like Swallows (1937)
- An autobiographical novella about the cruel impact of the 1918 flu epidemic, as seen through the eyes of an 8-year-old midwestern child and his family
- The Folded Leaf (1945)
- Time Will Darken It (1948)
- The Chateau (1961)
- So Long, See You Tomorrow (1980) (Winner of the William Dean Howells Medal and National Book Award for Fiction)
- An aging man remembers a boyhood friendship he had in 1920s Illinois which falters following a murder.
It sounds like a really interesting exploration of relationships, Patti.
ReplyDeleteA truly great writer.
ReplyDeleteI have the William Maxwell volume from THE LIBRARY OF AMERICA on order. Excellent review!
ReplyDeleteNeed to check that out.
ReplyDeleteIndeed, sounds like work worth investigating over an impressive span of years.
ReplyDeleteThis novel sounds very good; I haven't read anything by Maxwell. The other two that you provided additional information on also sound worth trying: They Came Like Swallows and So Long, See You Tomorrow.
ReplyDelete