A Cry of Absence: A Novel (Voices of the South)

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding!
Review: This is, without a doubt, the best treatment of race relations during the Civil Rights era by any author, black or white. One factor of this novel that I found particularly intriguing was the contrast between the civilized, semi-aristocratic family portrayed in the book and the "white trash" and transplanted northerners in their midst. Overall, an underrated classic.

Rating:
Summary: Perhaps the best treatment of racism in contemporary fiction
Review: With his customary skill and craft, Jones weaves a powerful and unforgettable story of racial tension in the New South.

A young black man is brutally murdered in a small Tennessee town. The novel's protagonist, Hester Glenn, slowly comes to realize that her younger son, whom she regards as a paragon of Southern male virtue, may be involved in the killing. Amidst the growing evidence of his guilt, Hester fights to clear his name and that of her family and community.

One reviewer of A CRY OF ABSENCE has likened the novel to a Greek tragedy. Hester is a tragic figure, blinded by pride, and like all tragic figures, she must accept a tragic fate for her actions. Although a conservative Southerner himself, Jones takes no sides. He's as critical of Hester as he is the busy body liberals who set themselves up in the town as the guardians of virtue.

This is a masterful novel,a literary work that moves with the pulse of a thriller, one that has been sorely overlooked since its initial publication in the early 70's. It is long overdue its share of acclaim.