Better a Dinner of Herbs

by Byron Herbert Reece, Hugh Ruppersburg (Foreword)

First published in 1950, Better a Dinner of Herbs is a compellingly dramatic tale of twisted, often violent human relationships. Taking its title from a biblical passage dealing with the power of love and hate within a household, the novel counterbalances its grim narrative with a poetic prose that evokes a reverence for the rhythm of the seasons and the continuity of life.

Byron Herbert Reece situates the story in the isolated hills of the agrarian South where he spent most of his life, but it could have occurred in any rural setting at any time. An unmarried girl dies in childbirth. Her brother, swearing revenge on the father of the child, sells the family farm and turns toward the open world with his nephew. In search of a wife and a different livelihood, he chances to encounter his enemy. An intentional act of brutality symbolizes an end to his passion and summons him again away from all that he cherishes.

Born at the foot of Blood Mountain in north Georgia and reared in the isolated mountain area near Blairsville, Byron Herbert Reece (1917-1958) was the author of four volumes of poetry and two novels that are tied deeply to the spirit and traditions of Appalachia. Journalist Bill Shipp has called Reece "perhaps the greatest balladeer of the Appalachians." His first volume of poems was published in 1945 to wide critical acclaim, and the publication of his remaining work brought him recognition far beyond north Georgia.

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1950

Reviews

[Kathy Piselli · Rating 4 out of 5]

I could read the two novels left by poet Byron Herbert Reece over and over. They are so well plotted and their characters are brushed onto the page like paintings. "He was not yet out of sleep. It clung in wisps to this thinking. The fog of sleep in the crags of the mind. The indistinct landscape of the mind. I am lost in this valley, there is fog here." The creek, "curving like a crooked index finger". "When Danny lay on his back and looked straight into the sky it did not look far. If he looked at one star long enough space circled in a widening funnel from the star to his eyes." As the sky whirls around in its circle, so do the events of this novel. "Don't be afraid of anything but a man," says Danny's Uncle Enid, remembering a sad event in his own past. "Man is the meanest animal of all." And yet the novel will end with hatred banished and love prevailing.

[Lin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Having read this book solely because I visited the author's farmstead and became enamored with it, I thought I would read the man's books. Maybe I will like his volumes of poetry better than his works of fiction.
The first 50 pages almost did me in...I hated every page. It got more readable for me after page 55, so I stuck with it.

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was better (and racier) than I expected (and no, not because of that). For a guy who died at my age from this area, I was impressed. Some details could have been left out as they didn't move the plot along, but overall not bad.

[Lynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars Reminded me of a Shakespearean tragedy. Lots of foreshadowing. Familial entanglements. Betrayal. A touch of homo-eroticism.