Indiana Gothic - Couverture souple

Brock, Pope

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 0747273537 ISBN 13 : 9780747273530

Editeur : Headline Review, 1999

Synopsis

Reading like a novel, this is the biography of the author's great-grandmother and her sister who lived in a poor, pious farming community in Indiana at the turn of the last century. One sister falls in love with the other's husband, and this is the story of their increasingly reckless, ongoing affair and the inevitable denouement which follows.

A propos du livre

Présentation de l'éditeur

The lines between fiction and nonfiction have become increasingly blurred, but in journalist Pope Brock's first book, about murder and adultery in his family, everything is true.

Journalist Pope Brock grew up ignorant of his family's most closely guarded secret. It was only when his great-aunt was dying that he learned the true circumstances surrounding the death of his great-grandfather Ham Dillon. An aspiring young Indiana politician, Dillon was shot to death in 1908 by his own brother-in-law, Link Hale--a man half-crazed with anger and grief over the fact that his wife, Allie, had just borne Ham a child. To add another twist, Allie Hale was more than just Ham Dillon's lover; she was also his wife's only sister.

Fascinated by this revelation, Pope Brock began his research. In Indiana Gothic, he tells the story of Ham Dillon with the sweep and power of a novel, re-creating the era in such vivid detail that we have the sensation of time travel. Readers first meet the young Ham Dillon--handsome, charismatic, ambitious--as he courts Maggie Thompson, the daughter of a well-to-do farmer. But after their marriage in 1898, Ham comes into the orbit of Maggie's sister, Allie, who is locked in a joyless marriage to the depressive Link Hale. Passion soon takes over, and tragedy ensues--culminating in the drama of Link's murder trial, which made headlines for its controversial use of the insanity plea. Atmospheric and gripping, Indiana Gothic is a bold saga of an American past that is both forever lost and strangely, startlingly familiar.

Revue de presse

'A dramatic, fast-paced story drawing its power from passion, hatred and murder ... [Pope Brock] reaches deep into the true darkness of human nature.'
Doris Betts, author of The Sharp Teeth of Love

If Brock's book has an ancestor, it is surely Truman Capote ... As pure courtroom drama Indiana Gothic is as good as it gets; as historical reconstruction, there has been none better. (Independent)

The Indiana landscape, open and lush, and its fitful climate that goes from heat and dust to icy rain in minutes provide the perfect atmosphere for this tale of feverish desire ... A wonderful read. (The Times)

'Indiana Gothic has unforgettable characters, great atmosphere, and it goes like a freight train.'
Nicholas Paleggi, author and screenplay writer (Wiseguy, Goodfellas and Casino)

Indiana Gothic is a brilliant fusion of In Cold Blood and The Bridges of Madison County ... To re-create a period, chart a plot or to attain emotional depth in the way this novel has would all be major achievements taken alone. To have them all is very special. (Independent on Sunday)

One of those stories that only the most brilliant and original of novelists could actually have dreamt up ... Brock beautifully weaves in carefully researched details of contemporary life. (Sunday Times)

Brock's account of the trial is a tour de force. Characters who have been fleshed out with a novelist's imagination step out of fiction and into the real world. (Daily Mail)

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Headline Review
• Date d'édition: 1999
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 0747273537
• ISBN 13: 9780747273530
• Reliure: Broché
• Nombre de pages: 384
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: non disponible