The keepers of the house (original 1964; edition 1977)

For some reason, on average I seem to like Pulitzer Prize winning books much better that books winning other major prizes. The Keepers of the House by Shirley Ann Grau, which won the Pulitzer in 1965 is a perfect example. It is absolutely a 5 star read as far as I'm concerned.

The story takes place at a southern farm which has been owned by the Howland family for seven generations. It is narrated by Abigail, who has the farm in the mid-20th century, and centers around her life and that of her mother and grandfather. The Howlands are strong. They aren't forced out, the don't forget and they don't forgive.

The books deals with the changing values and expectations through time as well as the small-mindedness and prejudices of the rural south. The impact of race is a major theme. The book was strongly condemned in the south when it was published and even led to the burning of a cross in the author's lawn. Sometimes the race theme is strongly states, other times it is a more subtle nudge.
"In the South, most people could tell that Robert was a Negro. In the North, he would have been white.

After Robert there was Nina....then there was Crissy, Christine. Both girls were fair with red hair like their brother's. Their other blood showed in the shape and color of their eyes, in the waxy pallor of their skins, in the color of their fingernails.

And how did I know? Because I've spent my time sitting on porches on a sunny dusty afternoon, listening to the ladies talk, learning to see what they saw....

They taught me my Bible lessons the exact same way. And to this day I am very good at spotting signs of Negro blood and at reciting the endless lists of genealogies in the Bible. It's a southern talent, you might say." ( )

family.
privilege.
death.
revenge.

Everything has its season. The book of Ecclesiastes explains "seasons" well which may explain why Grau opened the story and picked out the title from Ecclesiastes 12:3-5. At its very core The Keepers of the House is a story of forbidden love. William Howland was from a family of privileged white land owners who owned most of the county. While returning from a three day swamp journey to locate a whiskey still, William comes upon Margaret Carmicheal a large richly hued Black woman. Margaret is an orphan left with relatives but she spends most of her time alone. Alone and washing clothes is how William Howland found her that day when he walked out of the swamp. They spent the rest of their lives together.

William and Margaret had three children together. William's first marriage had produced a daughter, Abigail, whose mother died. Abigail returned to the Howland home after a troubled marriage with her own young daughter, Abigail, our narrator. William and Margaret had that strong, understanding kind of love that didn't require much talking. Margaret and William's children Robert, Nina, and Christine were all sent away when they got of age to "pass" in northern cities. There was little to no communication from them. Life went on. Abigail married, John Tolliver, and had her own children. They remained on the Howland land. Her husband launched a successful political career built on segregation principles. John Tolliver thought his segregation rhetoric would go no further than the confines of the White Citizen's Councils he spoke to but it seeped out. His rhetoric caused the past to walk right up to their front door.

The women characters within this novel stood out the most. They were strong when it mattered but their weaknesses cripppled them. They loved hard and gave up too easy. They were vengeful.

The Keepers of the House read like the author was trying to put a story together and not a finished product. Grau can craft a landscape and make you feel like you are standing there but her characters never connected. I didn't feel like the story began until the last hundred pages. The author took us through 40years of wilderness to get to a promised land that was around the corner. I wanted the ending to be great since I had sluggishly made my way through such a dull narrative. The ending as well as the entire novel was an extreme disappointment. ( )

Overwrought, over-written, dated Southern Gothic. ( )

984 The Keepers of the House, by Shirley Ann Grau (read 1 Dec 1968) (Pulitzer Fiction prize in 1965) This book was such it inspired me not to do a post-reading note. I read it because it won a Pulitzer prize, but my memory is that it won no prize from me. ( )

Good historical novel about ancestors of a white man's secret marriage to his black housekeeper and the consequences. ( )