Love in a Dry Season

By: Shelby Foote

Narrated by: Tom Parker

Shelby Foote's magnificently orchestrated novel anticipates much of the subject matter of his monumental Civil War trilogy, rendering the clash between North and South with a violence all the more shocking for its intimacy.

Love in a Dry Season describes an erotic and economic triangle, in which two wealthy and fantastically unhappy Mississippi families, the Barcrofts and the Carrutherses, are joined by an open-faced fortune hunter from the North, a man whose ruthlessness is matched only by his inability to understand the people he tries to exploit and his fatal incomprehension of the passions he so casually ignites. Combining a flawless sense of place with a Faulknerian command of the grotesque, Foote's novel turns a small cotton town into a sexual battleground as fatal as Vicksburg or Shiloh, and one where strategy is no match for instinct and tradition.

©1951, 1979 Shelby Foote (P)2002 Blackstone Audiobooks

Critic reviews

"A fascinating drama...the atmosphere is superbly managed; and on every score, this is a first-rate job of story-telling." (Philadelphia Inquirer)

A really enjoyable read

Beautifully written. Foote is firmly entrenched in the modernist tradition and comes as a breath of fresh air after styleless contemporary novels that offer no poetic flourishes or opportunities to reflect. Very well done.

Fascinating Listen

Shelby Foote knows how to spin a yarn. This story translates well to audio, although it deserves to be read carefully. As outrageous as the story is, Foote creates characters and connections that are memorable and easy to visualize. The role of women is particularly southern, realistic and disturbing. Highly recommend.

Superbly written!

Very interesting story, I was engaged from beginning to end. Shelby Foote has an amazing attitude for capturing character and environment.

Hmmmmmm

I love Shelby Foote’s historical fiction, but this non-fiction story is DEPRESSING. All characters are generally unlikeable. And yet, I finished it. 🤷‍♀️

I would love to find more like this.

Loved every minute of it. The risque and honest subject manner. An honest look at humans being human. The open infidelity, voyeurism and strong women were a wonderful treat. I'd love to find more book written this well. Shelby Foote's detailed style pita you right there. You can see the characters, their faces, and their environment. You understand every character. You see they're good and they're bad. You like them sometimes and sometimes you don't. I wish there was a movie.

more like "A very dry book for free!"

I downloaded this last night in prep for a 20 mi bike ride. I fell asleep trying to get into it last night. I listened for 20 miles on a bike ride, with several stops, and it's the most boring, dry story EVER! I'm halfway through chapter 3 and I don't even know WHAT this book is about except for random characters and pieces of their lives which is very boring!

A Story and Characters Not Worth Your Time

I came to know and appreciate Shelby Foote during the "Civil War" PBS series years ago. He was engaging and insightful in his comments on the Civil War, particularly from the Southern perspective.

Certainly, non-fiction and critical commentary, at which he excels, is different from a work of fiction. Still, I was surprised at the very poor quality of this work. The characters lack depth and interest. They are like comic book characters, plopped into a melodrama that does not lead to anything positive, insightful, or in the slightest way uplifting. It some ways it proceeds like an "anti-novel": instead of acquiring depth and wisdom as they proceed the characters simply tumble into ever greater depths of haplessness and dysfunction.

I would have to rate the book a waste of my time when all is said and done.