LOVE IN A DRY SEASON

Dirty and dull- but shrewdly contrived and skillfully executed so that- while you loathe practically every character in the book, you believe in them. A sordid triangle,- Amy, a nymphomaniac and a rotter, her blind husband, Jeff, who enjoys contriving reasons for display of jealousy and suspicion, and Drew, a travelling salesman on the make, who deliberately woos and wins the spinster daughter of the town's leading cotton merchant, only to be thrown out by the father, who knows what he is after. He stays on to await his antagonist's death, but Fate tricks him. It is the invalid sister who dies, thus freeing the credulous Amanda for an elopement, only to have her lover throw her over unceremoniously, and stay on for his pursuit of more attractive game in the insatiable Amy. Jeff lays his net- and catches his erring pair in the act- but his blindness tricks his aim, and he wounds but does not kill. Drew goes on to fresh pastures; Amanda gets queerer; Jeff and Amy stay linked in matrimony and hate. If this be Southern "love" — make the most of it. I found it left a bad taste in my mouth.