Red Bone Woman A novel

When Tempie's family came out of the bayou swamp in southeastern Louisiana, the neighbors called them "Red Bones" -- though seldom to their faces. But the eye of one neighbor, a lonely, widowed farmer, was caught by Tempie's stately figure and her youthful vigor. Tempie is an original in fiction and this is her book. She grows in humanity, in stature, in reality until at last she wins us wholly. The woman and her story are of strong, uncompromising materials. Born of a mysterious people, she appears one day standing alone in a field, unwashed, unspeaking, unquestioning. Taken into the farmer's house, she cooks his meals, works his land, loves him silently. For this, without fully realizing it, Randall is gradually rejected by his family and his neighbors; for the Red Bones are beneath their contempt. Randall marries Tempie, without admitting his love, and she bears him children, without complaint. Secret fear about her origin adds severely to the burden of his ostracism. He cannot bring himself to speak of the fear; yet she knows, and knowing, has her own silent way of combating it. Our understanding of Tempie grows as we see her win her husband's love. Sturdily she shapes their life, and together they fight for their children's right to social acceptance. The drama is all here, but the true story is in the revelation of a woman's character. Tempie is a richly human and humorous figure; a woman with the quality of the soil in her, who towers a primitive source of strength, meeting life's deep tradgedy and its high comedy.