Paperback 368 pages Published 1985 PENFaulkner Award for Fiction 1986 This collection features 14 short stories set in the cities of the Deep South that depict critical moments in the lives of middle class Southerners during the 1930s and 1940s The subjects are ordinary people families and households of the time caught in the extraordinary tensions of everyday life The prose befits the topics simple on the surface yet rich and elegant And just because Peter Taylor a native Southerner has captured a time and a region in this refreshing book doesnt mean the work will appeal only to those interested in Southern writers This 1986 PENFaulkner Award winner is rich with the kind of material that will appeal to anyone interested in good storytelling