This novel of a Mississippi family in the 1920s “presents the essence of the Deep South and does it with infinite finesse” (The Christian Science Monitor). From one of the most treasured American writers, winner of a National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize, comes Delta Wedding, a vivid and charming portrait of Southern life. Set in 1923, the story is centered on the Fairchilds, a big and clamorous … Fairchilds, a big and clamorous family, who live on a plantation in the Mississippi delta. They are in the midst of planning their daughter’s wedding when a nine-year-old relative, Laura McRaven, whose mother has just died, comes to visit.
Drama leads to drama, revelation to revelation, in a novel that is “nothing short of wonderful” (The New Yorker). The result is a sometimes-riotous view of a Southern family, and the parentless child who learns to become one of them.
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not interesting
Struggled to finish – too much unnecessary detail, overly wordy descriptions of everything.
Did not care for this novel. Kept waiting for something to happen. It never did.
We tried to read this book for our bookclub but none of us could wade through it. It sounds interesting, but the writing was very difficult to read and process. I don’t think that any of the group finished it.
Nobody can reveal the Deep South like Eudora Welty.
Keeping in mind the era when this was written, the book is not a statement on the Jim Crow South. It explores life on the Mississippi Delta very matter-of-factly and makes no apologies. The prose at times is as languorous as a steamy summer day or as plodding as a field mule, all in the context of the upcoming nuptials in a large and garrulous family. Good luck keeping the numerous aunts, uncles and cousins straight. Better yet, don’t even try… just enjoy their colloquial banter and customs. If you are from the south, this is like stepping back in time to a Sunday supper on the grass. If you are from other parts, don’t judge, just let it wash over you.
I found this book to be very disappointing, given the author’s reputation, as it is tediously detailed and dull.
A classic author
It was interesting. I grew up in the west and now live in the south so I learned more about the area I now live in.
I like much of Welty’s work, but this one has too many details.
Life in Mississippi of the 1920’s brought to vivid life. Dialog is written such that I could hear the voices of the speakers. The slow pace of the story eventually gives way to a depth of characters and relationships that is unforgettable.
Just not my style
Very stilted, hard to read
I liked this book, it was a world and a place and time I never experienced, but she made you feel like you could relate to it. You feel like a guest in their house over hot summer days. It meanders around like a summer vacation meanders. The characters are living their lives and you watch them do it.
Incredible writing. Subject didn’t hold me.
My first Eudora Welty book. Slow starting! I enjoyed the historical picture!
Fabulous Eudora Welty use of the language. Descriptions are so evocative.
A truly entertaining story. Written just like we talk in the south. A southern jumbled family with all of our stories spilling everywhere but strongly embedded into the family nucleus. All somehow accepted, all somehow tolerated, all loved.
Good descriptions of the South. I made myself finish it.
I slogged through this because of the author, but I never loved the book. The best part of it was the evocation of another time, in another place.