FOX'S EARTH

Rating:
Summary: Not her best, by far!
Review: I agree with Jeff. The overuse of the "N" word was unnecessary and racist, and Ruth Yancey Fox ruining life after life for over 300 pages was just about too much to endure.

Rating:
Summary: my review
Review: I have already read many books from this author, and I have enjoyed each and every one. This was no exception.

This book is very entertaining and the plot keeps us hooked until the very end. The characters are alive and well liked or disliked, in Ruth's case.

Rating:
Summary: FRIGHTENING...........WELL WRITTEN
Review: I have to give Fox's Earth five stars as this book has been so well written. Set in the Southern state of Georgia, Siddons delves into the lives of three generations of women.

The main character is Ruth Yancey, the daughter of impoverished and demented mill worker Cater. Cater is an embarassment to his family and makes a spectacle of himself on market days as he leads them shepherd-like into town, where he cusses and carries on any person he encounters who is better off financially than he. Returning home in a drunken state he strips his wife Pearl Yancey and daughter Ruth of what little self esteem they have, with brutal beatings,horrible rapings and screams which can be heard far into the night.

It isn't any wonder then that at such an early age, Ruth Yancey is forced to embrace the adoption offered by the seniors of Fox's Earth; Alicia and Claud Fox. Pearl Yancey convinces Ruth that going there will be the answer to all her dreams and the end of her nightmares. So they wait impatiently until Cater Yancey's death, and then Ruth is driven by Alicia Fox's chauffeur
to her new life.

The story takes full swing from here with Alicia turning Ruth into the lady who should be readily accepted by society. She learns all the social graces and proper etiquette, and all the finer things of life. Soon Paul Fox, son of Fox's Earth takes her hand in marriage and she now feels more in control.

See how quickly Ruth Yancey Fox forgets where she has arrived from, as she gains power over all her contacts by evil manipulations and such unpleasant dominance she lauds over all who live at the 'big house'including her husband and eventually the coming generations of Fox's children. It almost leaves you with your mouth open to see such ruthlessnes; for Ruth Yancey Fox rules, and she rules with a very long whip. A whip which leaves indelible marks. A highly recommended saga from Siddons.

Heather Marshall
October 2nd, 2001

Rating:
Summary: Very Absorbing-A Great Book!
Review: I really enjoyed this family saga by Siddons written about a young girl who lives in poverty, and with her schizo-father, and mother who is afraid of this man as you can tell from reading the book. But Ruth Yancey has an opportunity to go live with the Fox family, and from then on in the story she becomes her own domineering person as time goes along. Ruth is a very very strong character who later calls the shots at the mansion after the death of Alicia Fox. Over the years, the family continues to grow, and many exciting events take place over the chapters. A very absorbing book!

Rating:
Summary: PFG & VV...if you've read the book, you know what it means..
Review: PFG: the writing. Wow. Lush, vivid, rushing forward and pulling you with it...you cannot put this melodrama down. I give it five stars for sheer entertainment.

PFG: the characters. Siddons is a great psychological writer. She gives individualistic sketches of several characters that could be textbook, especially the screamingly psychotic sociopath Ruth Yancey-Fox. Yikes.

PFG: the first several chapters, describing the Yancey family.
It's as perfect as novel-writing can be right up until Ruth is adopted into the Fox family. Then it gets "Gone With the Wind"-y and "Little Foxes"-y. It continues to mesmerize, but is never as good as those first chapters.

V.V.: Descriptions of good ol' black folks who still like to dance on the old plantation 'cause they's devoted to their massahs - ugh. Demeaning, stereotypical, crap. Made me want to throw up.

V.V.: Rip, the black woman who "knows" the sickie Ruth almost in the biblical sense: we are set up to believe that she has some magical powers to "protect" Ruth's offspring, but in fact she never does do a damn thing to help them. She's always "lookin' out" for her "chirren," but I found that she was basically in collusion with Ruth. It's like the old saying: "If you're not part of the solution then you're part of the problem." She watched Ruth do horrible things, including murder, and never said a word. Her rationalization, at the end, that "Who would believe me?" just didn't cut it. She had power in that household, too. Even if they didn't believe her, she should have had the guts to spill to beans...or the chitlins, or whatever.

V.V.: Tying up the whole thing in letters from Ruth at the end was a highly unbelievable contrivance. But by then you were just happy to have the fascinating story end. As good as it is, it gets on your nerves after a while. I found Nell, the final heroine, to be a milksop. But in the end, too, it's a good sister story. If you've ever had a female sibling rival and made up when you found out how sick the grownups were, you'll probably love it.

PFG: Painterly descriptions.

V.V.: Location, Location, Location. The South doesn't get more nauseating than this.

Rating:
Summary: An epic story of southern grandness and madness
Review: This is the 3rd book I have read by Ms. Siddons, and so far the best. I am looking forward to reading every book she has written now, and intend to do so. I hope more people get a chance to experience this little-known early novel by this author. Ms. Siddons has wonderful descriptive powers and sense of location, and makes you feel as if you are right there experiencing the events along with the characters.

Rating:
Summary: For me, very disappointing
Review: Wow! I'm astonished that everyone else liked this so much. For me, watching Ruth Yancey Fox ruthlessly destroy the lives of everyone in her family was just too depressing. I probably wouldn't have even finished this if I hadn't been on vacation. I thought Ruth should have had her comeuppance a lot earlier in the story, and then there would have been a LITTLE more joy and happiness instead of grinding misery for the whole damn book. I also thought the depiction of the black servants was a bit racist and patronizing. (The old warmhearted-but-dimwitted stereotype.)

Rating:
Summary: For me, very disappointing
Review: Wow! I'm astonished that everyone else liked this so much. For me, watching Ruth Yancey Fox ruthlessly destroy the lives of everyone in her family was just too depressing. I probably wouldn't have even finished this if I hadn't been on vacation. I thought Ruth should have had her comeuppance a lot earlier in the story, and then there would have been a LITTLE more joy and happiness instead of grinding misery for the whole damn book. I also thought the depiction of the black servants was a bit racist and patronizing. (The old warmhearted-but-dimwitted stereotype.)