Desire in the Deep South

Ward Greene's blistering third novel, once again set in his fictional Georgia town of Corinth, follows the booze-soaked loves, tragedies, and betrayals of people caught in the clash between old traditions and the new morality of the Jazz Age. It's a passionate conflict sparked by the return of local girl Eloise King after a decade away in New York...bringing with her the Bohemian ideals of Greenwich Village. The characters include an Italian bootlegger, a sex-starved librarian, a philandering husband, a conniving actress attracted to married men, and the return of Cora Potts, the colorful heroine of Greene's first book. Previously published in 1932 as . "A dramatic explosion." "An exceptionally good story of the modern south. The superb characterizations deserve unlimited praise" "At heart a southerner, Greene is sufficiently cosmopolitan to be able to view his native environment with detachment, to write of it with affection and understanding, but often with his tongue in his cheek. Highly readable, a swift-moving narrative." "A decisively good book. The action is fast and consistently interesting. The characters are engagingly picaresque." "There runs a current of passionate seriousness that charges the book with vitality." "Ward Greene dares the Gods by satirizing Southern chivalry."