Of Love and Dust
by Ernest J. Gaines
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"A serious, powerful novel...[Gaines] is a writer of terrific energy."--The Nation This is the story of Marcus: bonded out of jail where he has been awaiting trial for murder, he is sent to the Hebert plantation to work in the fields. There he encounters conflict with the overseer, Sidney Bonbon, and a tale of revenge, lust and power plays out between Marcus, Bonbon, Bonbon's mistress Pauline, and Bonbon's wife Louise.Tags
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Member Reviews
A quiet and smooth novel of debilitation, defiance, and hope. For fans of Gaines' more recent work such as A Lesson Before Dying, the themes and racial tensions here will be recognized, though stylistically Of Love and Dust clearly comes from a less experienced writer. Still, though the writing here is slightly less mature than Gaines' readers might expect, the story is as powerful as ever, and his characters just as much a drive to tension and story. This is a quiet worthwhile journey. Recommended.
A very touching book. As the title says its about love, but more than that the books talks about a a very sensitive topic of "freedom". Marcus's hope of getting out of the plantation and go somewhere where he would be treated like a person and not a slave, is infectious. I wanted him to make it. But even in his death there was the hope of being free. He died free. He died in love. He fought for freedom and died for it. Really good book with a lot of deep meaning.
Very well written as his other books are. Engaging
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Author Information
18+ Works 9,941 Members
Ernest James Gaines was born on January 15, 1933, on the River Lake Plantation, Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana. His 1993 novel, A Lesson Before Dying, won the National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction. Gaines has been a MacArthur Foundation fellow, awarded the National Humanities Medal, and inducted into the French Ordre des Arts et des show more Lettres (Order of Arts and Letters) as a Chevalier. Although he was educated in California (at San Francisco State College and Stanford University), his fiction is dominated by images and characters drawn from rural Louisiana, where he was born and raised. Unquestionably the most recognizable, and probably the best, of Gaines's novels is The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman (1971), a fictional account of the long life of a black woman born a slave on a Louisiana plantation. Through the stories of the many fascinating people who touch Jane's life, Gaines presents not only a moving perspective on the struggles of African Americans but also a social history of the United States since the Civil War. It is a testimony to Gaines's skill as a writer and storyteller that many people believe Jane Pittman was a real person. Indeed, the novel is frequently misshelved in the biography section of bookstores. In 1993 Gaines also won the Dos Passos Prize and in 2000 he won the National Humanities Medal. Of Gaines's other works, Bloodline (1976), a collection of five short stories, stands out for its powerful portrayals of young men in search of self-respect and dignity. In 2013 President Barack Obama presented Mr. Gaines with the National Medal of Arts. Ernest J. Gaines passed away on November 5,2019 at this home in Oscar, LA at the age of 86. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Awards and Honors
Notable Lists
Common Knowledge
- Original publication date
- 1967
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 209
- Popularity
- 155,541
- Reviews
- 3
- Rating
- (4.10)
- Languages
- English, French
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 8
- ASINs
- 4
