Spence And Lila

This is a novella about a 50 year old woman in rural Kentucky who learns she has breast cancer. Lila goes through surgery attended by the loving care of her husband, Spence. The narrative includes many recollections of their life together: courtship, the WW II years, child-rearing issues, etc. At first, the tone struck me as overly ingenuous (Gee, gosh, golly--), but as I read on, I recognized this for an absence of irony, which has become so rare in contemporary literature. Spence and Lila are very straightforward, sincere people! In the end, I found this quite refreshing.

The title couple realizes that they are facing a dire threat to the peaceful, largely satisfying, life they have made together. The author strikes a balance between show more the themes of pop culture—represented by Spence's famous epiphany in the K-Mart parking lot—and higher values, including ecological consciousness, the use of heirloom seeds, and reaching across the racial divide. I found myself praying for Lila to pull through and stay with Spence for many years to come. show less

Book Description: New York: Harper & Row, 1956. Very Good/Very Good. First Edition, 1rd Printing. Hardcover. 8vo. 403pp including Sources and Commentary. Burgundy cloth, colored pastedown on spine and cover. Illustrated DJ in Mylar. Subtitle: France's best told stories as countrymen and villagers have told them. B&W illustrations by Warren Chappell. Translated by Austin E. Fife.