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Rating: 
Summary: A stunning debut novel
Review: "A debut novel of considerable emotional force. . . . A memorable success--sad, vivid, and haunting."--Kirkus Reviews, April 15, 1998"This strong first novel chronicles a scandalous, ill-starred love. . . Written in deceptively simple prose that has the intimate flow of oral history, Kilgo's novel gives readers a moving, searching look into the hearts of persuasively flawed characters"--Publishers Weekly, February 23,1998 "This is a love story, tragedy, and social commentary all in one, effectively conveyed through the various viewpoints from within the family."--Library Journal, April 15, 1998 "Powerful, compelling. . . . An auspicious debut."--The Columbia (SC) State-Record, May 10, 1998 "Lush and passionate. . . . He captures the distinction between what people say and what they mean with near perfection."--The Raleigh (NC) News & Observer "James Kilgo. . . . makes his stunning debut as a novelist with this Southern family romance. Kilgo treats his tale of inter-racial love with an insight that is uncannily delicate and fierce. . . . Kilgo's masterfully drawn shifts in his characters' self-awareness deepen the tragedy of his tale"--The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, June 7, 1998
Rating: 
Summary: Unraviling Passion
Review: James Kilgro's electifing southern antique story, of a house
maid's intensifing relatioship with her white cousin in 1918.
It tells us that they suffered socially as well as privately
in the quest to explore love and intimacy in a era when it
was forbidden. Moving away to escape the discust and terroism
of the community only to find that when she returns married,
the affair would only emerge to confront them both and their
families of both races. It's hard to put down!
Rating:
Summary: Unraviling Passion
Review: James Kilgro's electifing southern antique story, of a house
maid's intensifing relatioship with her white cousin in 1918.
It tells us that they suffered socially as well as privately
in the quest to explore love and intimacy in a era when it
was forbidden. Moving away to escape the discust and terroism
of the community only to find that when she returns married,
the affair would only emerge to confront them both and their
families of both races. It's hard to put down!
Rating:
Summary: Kilgo turns a sad story into a wonderfully moving tale
Review: Jim Kilgo did well with his poetry, but this novel surpasses all that he has done before. The vividly descriptive prose brings the story to life and evokes images that only someone totally familiar with the landscape and the people could manage. Readers are transported to that distant time when the memories of a brutal war were still fresh on the minds of many Southerners. A time when all the roads were filled with chokeing dust in dry weather, and life sucking mud in wet weather. The intense conflict between whites and blacks is eloquently portrayed by Kilgo, and the reader is forced to feel the anguish of a man torn between his duty to kith an kin, and the feelings of his heart. Bravo to Kilgo for tackling this difficult subject, but even more accolades are deserved for the eloquent way that it was done.
Rating:
Summary: a heart stabbing love story, perfectly told
Review: This is a gorgeously told story about possibly real people - simple people whose only complexity is their love, which defies properness. Kilgo's setting is so rich (and dear to me because it is my home and the home of "my people") I can actually see the shabbiness of the postwar southern landscape, and feel the invincible pride of the otherwise defeated southerners. Call me a sap, but I swooned over Hart's "poor man's Shakespeare" description of Jennie on page 159, and clutched my heart (and my Kleenex) when he said it was an honor to die for the woman he loved. This is a simple sweet tale, and was a complete joy to read. I suspect this book will be a great hit with southern women - we don't see many heroes like Hart Bonner around here anymore.
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