Republished late last year to mark the fiftieth anniversary of its original publication in 1948, this small masterwork from a great American writer has been speedily and deservedly paperbacked. No one could fault Maxwell's UK publishers for working overtime in spreading the word about a writer of awesome stature. Set in small-town Illinois in 1912, this laconic social comedy is deceptively simple. Austin King is the lawyer son of a lawyer whose artificially constructed life is so perfect that something must be seriously wrong. Unhappily entering a second pregnancy, his beautiful, remote wife is aware she understands neither herself nor her husband. When a group of newly discovered Southern relatives come visiting and virtually move in, she retreats into a mood of petulant uncertainty. Central to her fears is the presence of Austin's eager young cousin, Nora, a magnet for unhappy married men. Shrewd and brilliantly observed, the book tracks a group of watchers searching for signs which they usually miss.
