Home from the hill
Fifteen years after the death of her husband and son - years spent in a Dallas asylum - Hannah Hunnicutt is laid to rest between them in their small northeast Texas hometown. All three tombstones, however, bear the same date: May 18, 1939. From that event, Home from the Hill unfolds a powerful tale, told in flashback, that explains the tragic date: the volatile relationship between genteel, brooding Hannah and her charismatic, wayward husband, Wade; the arduous effects on their son, Theron, divided between emulating the father he admires and returning his mother's love; Theron's affection for pretty Libby Halstead and his induction into the adult rites of hunting and sex; and the murderous consequences of revenge. Originally published in 1958, William Humphrey's first novel perfectly evokes the culture of the 1930s South as it vividly renders individuals yoked together as a family. It has been translated into a dozen languages and was made into a movie starring Robert Mitchum as Wade Hunnicutt.