"It is, in a sense, a prose AENEID, written with so much economy and constraint that the reader is only aware at the end that he has been following the wanderings of a hero." -Andrew Nelson Lytle, New Republic (1934)

A minor classic that is too often overlooked. The pure aesthetic beauty and simplicity of Gordon's language is a revelation.

This highly regarded but not widely known masterpiece chronicles the life of Aleck Maury from his earliest forays into opossum hunting and flyfishing to his latter days of quail hunting and fishing in old age. His lifelong quest of excellence in the field conflicts with his commitments to family and social responsibility. The novel is based on the author's father. Ms. Gordon was the wife of Allen Tate, the noted literary critic and poet. The Agrarian context and concerns of Tate are evident in her work, though her writings are unique. She shows herself here and in her other novels to be a master of her craft.

James Kilgro's electifing southern antique story, of a house
maid's intensifing relatioship with her white cousin in 1918.
It tells us that they suffered socially as well as privately
in the quest to explore love and intimacy in a era when it
was forbidden. Moving away to escape the discust and terroism
of the community only to find that when she returns married,
the affair would only emerge to confront them both and their
families of both races. It's hard to put down!

Jim Kilgo did well with his poetry, but this novel surpasses all that he has done before. The vividly descriptive prose brings the story to life and evokes images that only someone totally familiar with the landscape and the people could manage. Readers are transported to that distant time when the memories of a brutal war were still fresh on the minds of many Southerners. A time when all the roads were filled with chokeing dust in dry weather, and life sucking mud in wet weather. The intense conflict between whites and blacks is eloquently portrayed by Kilgo, and the reader is forced to feel the anguish of a man torn between his duty to kith an kin, and the feelings of his heart. Bravo to Kilgo for tackling this difficult subject, but even more accolades are deserved for the eloquent way that it was done.

This is a gorgeously told story about possibly real people - simple people whose only complexity is their love, which defies properness. Kilgo's setting is so rich (and dear to me because it is my home and the home of "my people") I can actually see the shabbiness of the postwar southern landscape, and feel the invincible pride of the otherwise defeated southerners. Call me a sap, but I swooned over Hart's "poor man's Shakespeare" description of Jennie on page 159, and clutched my heart (and my Kleenex) when he said it was an honor to die for the woman he loved. This is a simple sweet tale, and was a complete joy to read. I suspect this book will be a great hit with southern women - we don't see many heroes like Hart Bonner around here anymore.

I had this book on my shelf for a long while and finally pulled it down a few days ago. I should have done it much sooner! Jim describes experiences that awaken memories from long ago. When I lay the book down and reflect on his story there always is an afterglow.

I have loaned this book to several of my best friends, the ones I shared the best and worst times with. This is the type of book many will relate to because it reminds us of the value of friendship and honesty. If you have a close group of friends who have seen you at your best and worst, this book will add a new wrinkle to the emotional bond between you. I have loaned out my copy of a lot of books, most I never get back. This one I always track down. It is mine.

Dr. Kilgo's works are not widely known (as in "popular"), though he was appropriately recognized with the Townsend Prize for Fiction for "Daughter of My People", but his ability to turn a tale is unparalleled. The Hand-Carved Creche and Other Christmas Stories is not as broad in scope as "Daughter of My People", nor is it meant to be. Superficially it is an "easy read", but this is analogous to admiring a gift for its wrapping paper. (By contrast "Daughter of My People" is best savored over a period of days--or even weeks--rather than in a one-shot read.)

Even though the language and structure Kilgo uses in The Hand-Carved Creche are more flowing and perhaps not so finely honed as in his other works, it is Kilgo at his most relaxed best. There is more of Jim Kilgo in this book than in any to date, for what we see are glimpses -- no, more than that, they are long-lasting impressions of the mind and spirit -- into the boyhood of the man to come. But Kilgo's ability to place his reader fully in the context of these Christmas memories also allows the reader to connect to his or her own memories of Christmases past. And we get to ask and reflect on that basic question: what is Christmas really all about?

Not only will you not be sorry you read this book, but you will find yourself drawn to read it again and again as Christmas approaches each year.

Granted, my review of this work is likely somewhat biased by my personal relationship with Jim Kilgo. But I am also no fool: I recognize excellence when I see it.

***The death of Jim Kilgo on Sunday, December 8, 2002, due to pneumonia-related complications means that the world has lost a preeminent novelist and storyteller. He wrote for the love of the language and about his love of family, the outdoors, and friends. He was at the same time a self-confident, determined man and an humble, gentle spirit, never seeking the limelight or the glory. He will be missed.

I discovered Kilgo through his stunning novel, Daughter of My People. This is a little book, but it is rich--more insight and meaning and substance here that there is in most 300 page books. Kilgo can really turn a phrase. And while his telling of his childhood Christmas stories set in South Carolina is perfect, the only problem if that I was left wanting more.

Colors of Africa was Jim Kilgo's last book, he died from his cancer before publication. It is, perhaps, his best book and is truly a good and authoritative book. It is written in his inimitative style and soulds just as through he was talking to you. A great epitaph to a great writer.
R.L. Humphries