William Humphrey's second novel The Ordways (1964) is not as well known as his more celebrated first novel Home From the Hill (1958). The novel's early reception suffered from its fragmented structure, as it is separated into 4 distinct sections: In a Country Churchyard, The Stepchild, Sam Ordway's Revenge, and Family Reunion. Like Home From the Hill, the plot is intricate and convoluted. It various digressions, references to unrevealed elements and events, and frequent narrative jumps between past and present slowly reveals the story in bits and pieces.
Humphrey's writing was often compared to Faulkner, an influence Humphrey vigorously denied. Insightful comments from two reviewers are revealing: "[Humphrey's] cosmos is less awry than Faulkner's, and his syntax is far more agreeable," and "Humphrey gives us...a piece of Faulkner in which the obscurities have been clarified and the crooked made straight."
Nearly 40 years after its publication, the loose structure and the Faulknerian inheritance of The Ordways are no longer hindrances to its value. It was unjust to Humphrey that the book was viewed as a shortfall compared to his first.
The story contains two main elements. First is the retold saga of the migration of the Ordway family ancestors from Tennessee to Texas, which is recounted in the section entitled In a Country Churchyard. The saga relates the travails of Civil War soldier Thomas Ordway, his incapacitating injury, his wife Ella's determination to keep the family together, their eventful migration to Texas, and the remainder of their lives in Texas. This remembrance is told during Remembrance Day, a yearly event where families clean cemetery housing the graves of their ancestors. In a Country Churchyard is brilliant writing and story-telling, both emotional and hilarious. Much of the Ordway history is extravagant and over-the-top, yet deeply moving at the same time. Bert Almon, Humphrey's primary literary critic, points out that Humphrey's desire was to satirize a number of southern and western cultural myths: the glorification of the lost southern cause of the Civil War, excessive southern piety to family, glamorization of the Wild West and cowboys, and an obsession with the past. Despite his extra-textual satirical goal, Humphrey does not come off as nasty or sarcastic. In fact, his love and affection are clearly on display. In a Country Churchyard is fiction, writing, and story-telling at its finest.
The second main element is an account spanning nearly 30 years of the kidnapping of Sam Ordway's son Ned by a neighbor, Sam's futile attempt to track down his son and the perpetrator, and at last the reunion of father and son about 30 years after the fact. The Stepchild describes the loss of the child and the step-by-step realization that he has been kidnapped. Slow, yet dramatic, The Stepchild is more straightforward story-telling compared to In a Country Churchyard. However, the events in The Stepchild, frequently and tantalizingly foreshadowed in In a Country Churchyard, make the prologue even more masterful and gives The Stepchild an extra poignancy. Sam Ordway's Revenge is a humorous recital of Sam Ordway's ridiculous search for his son. Ludicrous events happen time and again; this section perhaps reveals Humphrey's satirical intent the most. It does not continue the same sense of drama and devotion of the previous two sections and thus I found it somewhat weaker. Family Reunion is also weak compared to the book's first two sections. It is similarly humorous, capturing the celebrations across Texas for the reunion of Sam and his son Ned. The reunion of father and son provides some relief to the reader after the central tragedy of the kidnapping, but one wonders if the book may have been more powerful had the reunion never occurred.
Mr. Humphrey's lack of literary success was a source of great disappointment to him. I am similarly at a loss why his career did not take off as did those of his less-talented contemporaries. William Humphrey died in August 1997. I hope that his extremely worthy works The Ordways, Home from the Hill, and Farther Off from Heaven will not be forgotten. Everything you could ever want of a writer is there.
Thanks to LSU Press, two of these fine books are still available. A word to the fiction connoisseur - buy them while you can.

This is an important book for every Texan to read because it is a family history so many of us share. William Humphries viidly follows the day-to-day life and adventures of our ancestors from the time they pull up stakes in Arksansas or Alabama to putting down roots in Texas.

The Passion of Dellie O'Barr is a story full of feelings and new experiences. The gentelness of the main character and the radical choices she makes keep the interest in the story run high. Cindy Bonner is a winner!! I love all of her books and think she should get the recognition she deserves. It is a pleasure to read Bonner's novels, the subject is well researched and written in an easy to understand language, yet colorful. The manner in which Bonner describes the town, all it's residents and the way of life is so well written, it paints a clear picture in mind. I could not put the book down, it was a great reading, and time well spent. I want to recommend this novel to everybody, you will not regret you opened Cindy Bonner's "The Passion of Dellie O'Barr".

This book is just as incredible as her first, "Lily". It's a wonder to me that Cindy Bonner doesn't get more recognition for her work. Her novels are honest, with real, human characters. This book, as well as her two previous, is a book I will never forget!

I loved it! Tough, real, sweet and caustic, like life. Highly recommended to anyone who wants fiction that deals with reality rather than fantasy.

This is an edgy story about the love between two brothers, one a cop, the other a small-time crook, and how far the good brother will go to help the bad. The women are powerful, the pacing intense, the characters realistic, and the ending satisfying without being pie-in-the-sky. I look forward to a sequel.

You will enjoy the many discoveries this book has to offer and it is beautifully illustrated with a color photograph and planting recommendations for every plant. I cannot recommend a better book for a Houston or Gulf Coast gardener, either expert or new comer, and I have read them all! It focuses on plants that truly do well HERE. It skips azaleas, hybrid roses, tulips and all the other fussy plants pushed by the local nurseries do great anywhere but here. Instead it offers beautiful and underused (and for the most part - EASY) alternatives.

One of the best book's on Texas gardening.

I was very impressed with this book. I read through the whole thing several times. She reviews plants that will grow well in all of the climates in the state, and gives you enough information to be able to judge if you should give the plant you want to grow a try, even if your region isn't the best for it. Very detailed, yet easy to read, and very well written.

This is the best gardening book on perennial flowers in Texas I have used. It covers every region of the state not just a section. The photos are excellent for planing your own garden or for identifing flowers from a region not familar to you. Ms Ryan has done us amatuers a great service. Thank You Julie!

Beautifully told story of a young Mexican-American girl growing up in El Paso in the 1940s. Ms. Lopez-Stafford shares her recollections of her barrio and all it's colorful characters.

Great book, I read it for a Chicano Studies class but I enjoyed every moment of it. A good memoir for anyone interested in the daily life experiences of Chicanas in the U.S.

A PLACE WITH PROMISE is filled with the characters that Edward Swift loves. In this book, Edward Swift weaves memory with wonder and satirical jabs that will be appreciated long after he is gone from this earth. Mr. Swift loves the people who populate his mind and his memory. In A PLACE WITH PROMISE, Mr. Swift causes us to join him in caring deeply about the people whom he translates well from his mind to the pages of his books. Mr. Swift first did this with the people in the East Texas town, which was the setting of his first book, SPLENDORA. He also caused us to care deeply for the people in CAMP RUBY, CHRISTOPHER PARK REGULARS and MY GRANDFATHER'S FINGER, which is actually a memoir of his early years with his mother who created his magical world for him and taught him to appreciate the humor in the eccentricities of those around him. Mr. Swift's books cause us to want to read them again and again and to share them with all our friends. We truly feel that his books grow more meaningful with time and we also feel that Mr. Swift is now entering the time in which he was born to live.

A PLACE WITH PROMISE will zing you with humor and zap you with the pathos of the inner lives of the characters. You'll find yourself and all your friends within these pages and you'll love your world and your friends more after you have read it.

Way back in 1988, I obtained a publisher's copy of htis book in hardcover and it promptly made the circuit of my book-reading friends. Dog-eared as it was, it always made its way back to me numerous times after a high praise review from that pal. Many compared it to Marquez's Hundred Years in Solitude. I loved this story so much. It is funny, heartbreaking and so deserving of an audience. Edward Swift's books have always flown beneath the radar but certainly enjoy a cult status. This is one of my alltime favorites though. I would love to see this book added to the Oprah Book Club shelf at my local bookseller. And with Oprah in mind, I can see it as a film with the eye Spielberg used in his Color Purple.

From now on, all events in my life will be judged by a single reference...Those that occured before I read this book and those that occured after.

A fascinating look at the sometimes complicated world of Policy and politics, this book is a must read for all who wish to expand their knowledge in this area. I do not believe that a book as comprehensive or wonderful as this has ever been produced before. Dometrius and Somma are truly at the top of their field.

A outstanding compilation of life as it was and still is for many. Having lived in the atmosphere of that setting, I found the reading chilling and personal, as if it hit home. The lasting impression of his thoughts and recollection continue to allow me to relive that memorable time in life when we all thought everything was so simple. Like so many, I often fail to put myself in an author's position, however, in this case, I am greatful for his talents and abilities to relate real life.......I was there......part of his family during these times. So, thanks for the memories Dave.

One of the few books stolen from me by a friend (make that ex-friend). I am greatly comforted to know this book is still available as it is one of the books I cherished most and was so anxious to replace. Hickey is, I believe, a journalist, and this is the only book, a collection of short stories, he has published. Can't remember the specific title of the favorite story, something like "On the Trail of the Longhorn Cattle", but it is a classic about an old cowman, alone at home, trapped in a bathtub, with his dead nurse on the tile floor, waiting for his son to return home from a business trip.

Advance Books is a traditional independent press, which produces quality books geared towards a modern world full of diversity, baby boomers, and older readers. L.B. Cobb is herself an attorney, and is a product of a Tennessee upbringing. Now a resident of Houston, LB Cobb follows up her first novel, Splendor Bay.

Talk about women who have it all until it almost kills them, and you'll find Virginia Rodriguez. As a prosecutor for the DA's office, Virginia works nonstop while she manages to bring up her son, Nick, and try to remember to let the dog, Denver, in and fill its food dish. In the meantime, there has been a murder committed of a powerful federal prosecutor, and his wife is found in the hotel room with a gun in her hand. Is she guilty?

Virginia thinks at first this will be an open-and-shut case. Enter Leo Zachmann, a defense lawyer of some repute and intelligence, who can see from the start that the case doesn't add up. He's been hired by a gruff voice calling almost immediately after the murder was committed:

"'Why, Virginia, I see blinking cop cars and rowdy reporters and I just have to see if there's paying work I can hustle up,' Leo dead panned. 'You know how testy the state bar gets when you send runners in to sign up clients, so I like to do the signing up myself.' 'Right. I was told Mrs. Fullerton hasn't said a word, but it looks like she managed to sneak a call to a lawyer.'

Leo and his wife, Miranda, also a lawyer, manage to dig up enough dirt to indicate that "some other dude did it." Indeed, the absence of evidence is in itself fishy and causes Leo to latch on to another line of inquiry...of the feds. In the meantime, Virginia's case dissolves as Leo's case widens. Virginia has yet another issue begging for attention, a budding relationship.

Promises Town is a splendid follow-up to Cobb's debut novel. Her characters are chiseled out of the Texas landscape; politics; and Virginia's sometimes bitchy, but mostly likable, character.

Shelley Glodowski
Senior Reviewer

PROMISES TOWN introduces saucy Assistant District Attorney Virginia Rodriquez in the case of a murdered federal prosecutor. When Virginia arrives at the murder scene in a posh Bayou City, Texas hotel room, the federal prosecutor's wife has been found with the gun, he and a lover have been found dead in bed together, the motive is obvious, and the wife has been arrested. It looks like a slam-dunk case to Virginia. Enter Leo Zachmann, a shrewd high-profile defense attorney who challenges Virginia to look deeper into the facts -- facts that don't seem to add up to the wife being the murderer.

As Virginia and police detective named Smitty delve into the inconsistencies, they come to realize that maybe the wife has been set up, but by then a dismissal of the charges isn't that simple. Powerful people, including a man from Virginia's past, want a quick prosecution and conviction . At the same time, Zachmann and his staff are conducting their own investigation which indicates there's a political conspiracy behind the murders.

The story is masterfully told from a point-counterpoint perspective, interweaving the prosecution and defense point of view as Cobb takes the readers through a criminal investigation, into the courtroom, and then on to the unexpected ending. As in L.B. Cobb's debut novel, SPLENDOR BAY, twists, turns, and action keep the pages of PROMISES TOWN turning. It's also filled with deliciously complex relationships, suspense, humor, and some very memorable characters. I'll eager to read more about Virginia and Leo.