Love in a Dry Season

By: Shelby Foote

Narrated by: Tom Parker

Shelby Foote's magnificently orchestrated novel anticipates much of the subject matter of his monumental Civil War trilogy, rendering the clash between North and South with a violence all the more shocking for its intimacy.

Love in a Dry Season describes an erotic and economic triangle, in which two wealthy and fantastically unhappy Mississippi families, the Barcrofts and the Carrutherses, are joined by an open-faced fortune hunter from the North, a man whose ruthlessness is matched only by his inability to understand the people he tries to exploit and his fatal incomprehension of the passions he so casually ignites. Combining a flawless sense of place with a Faulknerian command of the grotesque, Foote's novel turns a small cotton town into a sexual battleground as fatal as Vicksburg or Shiloh, and one where strategy is no match for instinct and tradition.

©1951, 1979 Shelby Foote (P)2002 Blackstone Audiobooks

Critic reviews

"A fascinating drama...the atmosphere is superbly managed; and on every score, this is a first-rate job of story-telling." (Philadelphia Inquirer)

Hmmmmmm

I love Shelby Foote’s historical fiction, but this non-fiction story is DEPRESSING. All characters are generally unlikeable. And yet, I finished it. 🤷‍♀️

A really enjoyable read

Beautifully written. Foote is firmly entrenched in the modernist tradition and comes as a breath of fresh air after styleless contemporary novels that offer no poetic flourishes or opportunities to reflect. Very well done.

Witty

Witty, well written pot boiler with plenty of sex moves briskly through start of jazz age until end of WW2

Superbly written!

Very interesting story, I was engaged from beginning to end. Shelby Foote has an amazing attitude for capturing character and environment.

Fascinating Listen

Shelby Foote knows how to spin a yarn. This story translates well to audio, although it deserves to be read carefully. As outrageous as the story is, Foote creates characters and connections that are memorable and easy to visualize. The role of women is particularly southern, realistic and disturbing. Highly recommend.