Description:
The pantheon in question in Nancy Lemann's third novel, The Fiery Pantheon, is a private hall of fame constructed in the heart of protagonist Grace Stewart, a young woman living in New Orleans. As a gentleman's daughter growing up in the South, Grace's world-view has been shaped by southern ideals of honor--ideals embodied in the men whom Grace has placed in her pantheon: her father, her grandfather, and her fiancé, Monroe Collier. What qualifies all of these men is their devotion to tradition, to family, and to the South, and in cleaving to them, Grace seems set on a path that will keep her comfortably within the physical and emotional geography she has always known. Enter Walter, whom Grace regards as "a crazed individual." He, too, is from New Orleans, but he is very different from the men Grace idolizes: for one thing, he's left the South to go to Manhattan, where he works as a highly sought-after stock analyst; for another, he's just slightly unbalanced, and--worst of all--rather than looking to the Glorious Past for his inspiration, he prefers Ian Fleming's fictional hero, James Bond. He's hardly a suitable candidate for Grace's pantheon, but this doesn't stop Walter from attempting to get in anyway. Traveling from New Orleans to Virginia to New York to Istanbul and back, The Fiery Pantheon follows the twists and turns of Walter's loopy pursuit and Grace's evolving definition of honor in a tale that is poignant, humorous, and compassionate.
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