1945 Hobart THE PEACOCK SHEDS HIS TAIL hc/dj BCE religious historical novel

Description: Author: Alice Tisdale Hobart Title: The Peacock Sheds His Tail Binding: hardcover, with jacket Size: octavo; about 6" x 9" Pagination: 348pp Published: Bobbs-Merrill (Book Club Edition), 1945 Condition: Very good; some dinginess of jacket; small tears at head and foot of spine of jacket; spine cocked somewhat; owners name on title page; interior clean and complete otherwise [OCR is approximate, as always] ALICE TIsDALE HoBaRt has written a novel of international marriage, with the scene laid in Mexico. After her penetrating study of the Latin races in California in The Cup and the Sword, her large pub. lic has been waiting impatiently for her to turn fully to the south for a portrayal of the Latin at home. In THE PEACOCK SHEDS HIs TaiL she has done so, trium-phantly. This is modern Mexico, toiling toward democracy. In it the peacock sung about in ballads of the revolutionary soldiers becomes the symbol of outmoded luxury. She introduces three generations of the Navarro family of Mexico City, owners of great haciendas, an aristocratic Catholic family, conservative, ultra-Span-ish. The head of the house, old Don Julian, who sees his religion only as a worldly power, thinks of himself and of his class as custodians of a prized tradition imperiled by an upstart anticlerical democracy. Even his adversaries respect his unbending sincerity. Now in the troubled days of the late twenties he and his matriarch wife do everything they can to hold their three grandchildren firmly to the Church and the old Spanish ways. Enough of the new ideas penetrate past their guard to make the grandson divided in his allegiance, but he and his two sisters grow up handsome, intelligent, and with all the outward marks of their class. However, the husk of tradition has been split from within the family by their mother, the perfect mother, the Catholic ideal whose spirit reaches down to the profound truths of faith and race. There are others on the outside, dominant and demanding, who are pressing close against the bulwarked family -products of the Revolution insisting on change, Indian servants full of the bitterness of longing, legitimate and illegitimate connections probing the estab. lished order, threatening the family peace and place, and seeking a personal revenge. A young diplomat from the United States, James Buchanan, is brought into the narrow orbit of the Navarros. He is foreign, Protestant and democratic everything they oppose. In ordinary circumstances they would not even invite him into their house. The elder daughter Concha and the American fall in love. How Concha--idol of her grandfather, hope of her grandmother and father for the marriage of conven-ience, beloved sister, like her mother in temperament and courage-maneuvers to gain consent to marry the man she loves is a thrilling story in itself. They marry, with all the odds against them. The family throws its shadow across the marriage, making the struggle of the man and the woman for unity poignant, exciting, significant. Of all Alice Tisdale Hobarts woman characters Concha is the most complex, fascinating, admirable. Full of deep eddies as her spirit is, she has also a power of acceptance, an elemental simplicity in meeting life that she draws from the Aztec side of her heritage, refined by the discipline of Christianity. Although the emphasis is on the difficult but romantic marriage of Jim and Concha, their private drama is caught up into the larger struggle in which conservative landowners, the Church and foreign business interests combine to oppose the governments liberal reforms aimed at improving the conditions of labor, widening the communal ownership of land, educating the peasants. No other Hobart novel, not even Oil for the Lamps of China, has so many strands of interest, so many dramatic scenes, evidence of how Mexico has stirred her imagination, aroused her emotions. To its perfecting the author brings not only her finest skill and most meticulous craftsmanship but also, superlatively, the elevation, the fairness, the warm championing of the underdog and the humanity that mark all her books. It mounts steadily in intensity as the incomparable Concha plays her part to the end. Take a close look at the auction images for details of contents and condition. If you have any questions at all please send a message through eBay before bidding. NOTE: There may be more images in this listing than eBay shows in the top "gallery". Be sure to scroll down to view the full set, if so. Be sure to check our eBay Store for thousands of other listings like this one. Orders will be sent out within three business days of receipt of payment. 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Price: 8.19 USD

Location: Ann Arbor, Michigan

End Time: 2024-10-01T13:38:44.000Z

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