The Garden of Adonis

by Caroline Gordon

extremely rare,very good condition

299 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 1972

About the author

Caroline Gordon was an American novelist and literary critic who, while still in her thirties, received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1932 and an O. Henry Award in 1934.

Reviews

[Drew Norwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a sequel, but certainly a companion book to Penhally. This time the setting was the modern day (1930s). The Allards (as landowners) and Mortimers (as tenants) provide the central characters, but Caroline Gordon weaves in several other families to create a fuller picture of the modern society--Jim Carter takes up much of the central portions of the book, along with the Camps, and Ben Allard's children (Letty and Frank). With the Carters and the Camps (both modern, money-making families), Gordon creates a serious contrast to the Mortimers, Sheelers, and Ben Allard (traditional farming families), but each of those has its own grade and variation (the shiftless Sheelers, reputable Mortimers, and responsible Allards). All in all, I thought the various plot lines and wide-angle view of a rural community in the midst of modernizing, on top of and alongside the garden of Adonis theme, were really well done.