Time travel to the 1930s

This novel published in 1940, gives a clear-eyed picture of life in the rural south during the Great Depression. The next time you hear some politician extolling the merits of tossing safety nets like social security out, read this book to inform yourself about what life was like in those ‘good old days’ before ‘big government.’ As other reviewers have noted, the characters are depressed and depressing. You can sense the author’s feeling of isolation, if not hopelessness. Reading the book today, you can feel better about how far we as a society have come. It is a bit scary to consider how easily we can fall backwards, though.  It is a well- written, thought-provoking book.