Lost in the Stacks: The Time of Man

I came across Elizabeth Madox Roberts last week when I was reading a review of Charles Morgan's book The Fountain.  His book was was compared with Willa Cather's work, which was enough for me to bring it home for a closer look.  Also mentioned in the review was Madox Roberts (her writing has also been compared to Cather), whose books were once not only very popular but also studied at one time.  Her work even merited a volume in Twayne's United States Authors Series.  Best known for The Time of Man, which is still in print, Madox Roberts was shortlisted for the Pulitzer Prize.  Set in Kentucky, the novel is a coming of age story of a young woman who is the daughter of a migrant farmer.  According to the Elizabeth Madox Roberts Society "she developed a highly idiosyncratic language to explore the inner lives of women as they make sense of their places in the sometimes hostile but vividly rendered outer world."

Originally published in 1926 my library owns a Book of the Month Club edition.  I think there was a time when a book chosen to be the BOMC was actually quite an honor and must have meant literary success.  I discovered this sheet glued into the inside front cover, which gives a description of the book along with enthusiastic quotes about both author and novel.  It's interesting to see who was on the committee which voted on this book: Henry Seidel Canby, Heywood Broun, Dorothy Canfield (Persephone author), William Allen White and Christopher Morley.  Both Canfield and Morley are still known and have books in print.  Previous authors whose works were chosen "book of the month" include Sylvia Townsend Warner, T.S. Stribling, Esther Forbes, Walter Noble Burns, John Galsworthy and Edna Ferber (may have to investigate a few of these authors who are new to me). 

If you're curious for a little taste of the writing, the book begins:

"Ellen wrote her name in the air with her finger, Ellen Chester, leaning forward and writing on the horizontal plane.  Beside her in the wagon her mother huddled under an old shawl to keep herself from the damp, complaining, 'We ought to be a-goen on'."

"'If I had all the money there is in the world,' Ellen said slowly, 'I'd go along in a big red wagon and I wouldn't care id it taken twenty horses to pull it along.  Such a wagon as would never break down.'  She wrote her name again in the air."

If the Amazon reviews for the book are anything to go by, she seems a universally liked and respected author and surely doesn't deserve to be lost in the stacks anymore.

Comments

[Caroline]

Surely book of the month did mean something.
My grandmother used to cut out newspaper articles of the books she bought and I love finding them in the books. She has a lot of books I've never heard of but, like in this case, the reviews say that the books were appreciated. I like what they said about her language.

[Danielle]

Caroline--I think at one time many people subscribed to BOMC, though now I am not sure it is even around anymore. Occasionally I will also find reviews in the library books I take out, or a librarian will have clipped the description from the dust jacket and glued it in the back. It's interesting to read what the reviewers had to say about a book at the time it was published! It must be fun to look through your grandmother's books--you probably has all sorts of wonderful finds that she collected and kept.

[Stefanie]

I've never heard of Madox Roberts before! I think next time you get the chance to put up a Slaves list, you could make suggestions from you lost in the stacks. That could be really fun! As to the BOMC, it did indeed used to be a huge honor to be selected for it and the effects were sort life being an Oprah book.

[Danielle]

Stefanie--I wonder when the BOMC fell out of fashion? I know it still exists, but with so many other places to buy books I guess it is just not something people think of anymore. I had never heard of her either, though she really seems to have something of a faithful following and seems very well respected. I wonder if the Slaves would be interested in any of these books? I've certainly come across some really good ones and I think a number are still in print. I will keep that in mind! Such power we have when we choose books to read for the Slaves! :)

[litlove]

Ooh any comparison to Willa Cather makes me prick my ears up! I can see the farming connection here is probably one of the reasons, as well as the focus on female fates. This sounds very interesting, Danielle, and a very good rescue!

[Danielle]

Litlove--She seems so highly regarded and is even in print--I wonder why no one seems to talk about her now. I still don't think Willa Cather gets the acclaim she deserves--lots of people love her but she still seems relegated to a more secondary level by the critics. If Roberts is similar, I guess I'm not surprised that she has been somewhat forgotten (undeservedly of course). I really do need to give this one a try.