false 1292482 1 The life of a Southern family from the age of Reconstruction through the Great Depression-a brilliant social novel in the tradition of Julia Glass and Alice Munro <br><br> <i>In the Hope of Rising Again</i>, Helen Scully's elegant and accomplished first novel, is the story of the Riants and the Morrows-and the wealth of household help and extended family that make up their circle. As such it is history told through one family's fate: the story of the South as it rose slowly, unsteadily, from the ruins of the Civil War and stuttered into the twentieth century and the age of speculation and boom. <br><br> Regina Morrow is the center of this tale. The daughter of a Confederate veteran, Colonel Riant, a doting father and noble-minded autodidact, and the emotionally remote Mother Riant, Regina grows up in Mobile, Alabama, at the turn of the last century. Colonel Riant has amassed a fortune as a newspaperman and thus has control over much of Mobile; Mother Riant, meanwhile, has control over the household, ruling with an icy remove and an unyielding sense of propriety. <br><br> Regina's four brothers function with so little distinction that few can tell them apart; their recklessly self-regarding devotions extend only to personal grooming, profuse gambling, and simultaneously courting the same women. <br><br> An adored, favorite child molded by her father's beliefs, Regina breaks away from the Riant house and marries Charles Morrow, an eager yet fragile entrepreneur. It is a marriage beset from the start by Charles's instability and nearly undone by the death of a child. Regina must hold her own as her family meets financial ruin during the Depression, Mother Riant descends into deafness and senility, her brothers engage in increasingly mysterious habits, and the family struggles to reconcile itself with the Catholic faith painted thickly over its every act. Scully portrays her characters with the full weight of humanity, in sentences that are softly astonishing. Filled with incisive reflections on death, love, atonement, friendship, race, and, most of all, family, <i>In the Hope of Rising Again</i> is a stunning debut of a writer of great insight and imagination. 1281577 1 1 2004 In the Hope of Rising Again total:18|5:2|4:2|3:4|2:6|1:4| 18 46 29 3 2 0 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Tue Dec 23 06:16:35 -0800 2008 Thu Feb 12 09:34:33 -0800 2009 gone with the wind'-ish story about post Civil War life, which was interesting but predictable. The entire story revolved around rebuilding after civil and social unrest of the war... a somewhat interesting look at how the 'haves' reacted to not having. I did find it frustrating at ti...more...]]> 2 0 false false Wed Feb 27 03:43:37 -0800 2008 Wed Feb 27 03:44:23 -0800 2008 2 0 false false Mon Sep 03 12:30:09 -0700 2007 Mon Sep 03 12:30:53 -0700 2007 1 0 false false Sun Oct 25 15:38:20 -0700 2009 Sun Oct 25 15:38:20 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Thu Oct 08 15:09:10 -0700 2009 Thu Oct 08 15:09:10 -0700 2009 2 0 false false Tue Aug 25 13:50:58 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 17 08:03:48 -0700 2009 Tue Aug 25 13:50:58 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Thu Jul 16 08:53:53 -0700 2009 Wed Jul 08 15:57:26 -0700 2009 Thu Jul 16 08:53:53 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Wed May 27 06:31:14 -0700 2009 Wed May 27 06:31:14 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Wed May 20 18:49:15 -0700 2009 Wed May 20 18:49:15 -0700 2009 1 0 false false Mon Jun 22 10:37:17 -0700 2009 Tue May 19 16:50:33 -0700 2009 Mon Jun 22 10:37:17 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Mon May 18 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon May 18 21:57:32 -0700 2009 Mon May 18 21:57:38 -0700 2009 1 0 false false Wed Apr 29 17:56:53 -0700 2009 Wed Apr 29 17:56:53 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Fri Apr 24 13:30:46 -0700 2009 Fri Apr 24 13:30:46 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Thu Feb 19 14:30:59 -0800 2009 Thu Feb 19 14:31:08 -0800 2009 4 0 false false Sat Dec 13 06:28:58 -0800 2008 Sat Dec 13 06:28:58 -0800 2008 0 0 false false Wed Oct 22 06:49:57 -0700 2008 Wed Oct 22 06:49:57 -0700 2008 1 0 false false Wed Feb 25 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sun Oct 19 14:30:45 -0700 2008 Wed Mar 25 07:12:55 -0700 2009 2 0 false false Thu Oct 02 08:14:10 -0700 2008 Thu Oct 02 08:14:10 -0700 2008 5 0 false false Tue Jul 15 08:35:53 -0700 2008 Tue Jul 15 08:35:53 -0700 2008 4 0 false false Mon Jun 30 06:04:04 -0700 2008 Mon Jun 30 06:04:04 -0700 2008