Country People: a centenary edition - Softcover

Ruth Suckow

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1735919268 ISBN 13: 9781735919263

Publisher: Final Thursday Press, 2024

Synopsis

With the 1924 publication of Country People, Ruth Suckow established herself as one of the early 20th century’s premier chroniclers of American rural life. This novel follows the Kaetterhenrys, a German-American clan that works to build both a farm and family, navigating the tensions between individual desires and community expectations. In a narrative of exquisite observations that spans generations, Suckow offers a nuanced portrait of the land and its people. Following its initial publication, Country People was praised by H. L. Mencken as “judiciously planned and expertly executed. Miss Suckow, indeed, is extraordinary among writers of fiction.” The centenary edition (with a new critical introduction) offers another opportunity to appreciate Suckow’s craft as well as the rural lives she brought to life one hundred years ago.

About this title

About the Author

Ruth Suckow (1892-1960) was born in Hawarden, Iowa, and grew up primarily in rural Iowa communities, where much of her later fiction would be set. After receiving a degree at the University of Denver, she began publishing poetry and fiction in journals including The Midland, Poetry, and The Smart Set. Following the 1924 publication of Country People, Suckow would go on to become Iowa’s best-known writer of small town life before and during the Great Depression. Her other published works included Iowa Interiors (1926), Children and Older People (1931), The Folks (1934) and The John Wood Case (1959).

Edition details

• Publisher: Final Thursday Press
• Publication date: 2024
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1735919268
• ISBN 13: 9781735919263
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 142
• Editor: Julie Husband, Jim O'Loughlin