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Robert (USA: CA) (2024/08/30):
A collection of thirteen stories and a play by the 20th century master, Peter Taylor. The two best stories here, "The Gift of the Prodigal" and "The Old Forest," were written late in Taylor's career. There is a similarity between all the stories because they mostly take place in Nashville and Memphis in the early to mid-20th century. Many are about older people looking back to the way things were as they were establishing themselves. A few feature narrators who think they know what happened, but by the end of the story, their understanding of the events broadens and they realize much more was going on than they knew at the time.There are some common themes in the stories, mainly the changing of the South from an agra-based society to a more global economy and the challenges increasing opportunities for sons and daughters posed to the customs and traditions of wealthy old southern families. The masterful title story contrasts the lengths a woman of old southern society needed to protect the only future she had--marriage into another society man's successful career--against the growing independence of middle class office girls becoming common in Memphis. These are leisurely stories that take their time and self-reflect. It's a bit like a more soul-searching Jane Austin in Tennessee. I would warn any potential readers that every Black person in these stories are servants and while they are treated generally well by their employers, there are a lot of words used to describe and call the servants that feel shocking today. I understand this is simply reflective of the times and represents the world that Taylor grew up in and was familiar with but I can't quite reconcile that with the mostly negative way the Black characters are portrayed.
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