Berry Fleming

Waiting at the airport of a Caribbean island for his homeward bound plane, Edward Ray-the bookman of the title-reflects on this week, which has changed his life. First, there was the cargo ship voyage to San Juan de Pinos, a journey shared by an odd assortment of fellow passengers whose lives impinge on his own, and who entertain one another-in the manner of the travellers in Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales with stories of their own unusual experiences....

This comic third novel in our Berry Fleming series centers on Lucinda, a local girl-makes-good, who returns on her psychoanalyst's suggestion to Fredricksville, Georgia, in order to "find herself." A successful author and playwright in New York City, she poses a distinct problem for the residents of The Homestead - a large, communal home left to any member of the Telfair family who wishes to stay - since all of the characters in her novels and plays...

Satire at its gentlest and best and humor at its richest mark this story of a blustery retired military officer who mounts his final campaign against those self-appointed and elected guardians of the public good (and the taxpayer's purse strings) who are guilty of the sort of petty graft and private enrichment endemic in the mythical, sleepy, southern town of Fredricksville, Georgia.

Who Dwelt by a Churchyard centers around an old man about to move, who - as he sits before a fireplace throwing ancient photographs upon the flames - recalls the major events in his life. It is a stunning, moving work, written with great economy, and yet so richly textured that it gives one a feeling of having digested a work of fiction twice its length: an end of life novel that is clearly up to Fleming's own highest standards.

Originally published in 1938 by Harcourt, Brace, this tale of people who migrate to New York City in search of careers and fulfillment was the first work that brought Berry Fleming to national prominence as a novelist.

While Berry Fleming's interest in history has produced two books of non-fiction, one of which dealt with the Civil War (Autobiography of a City in Arms), The Affair at Honey Hill marks the first time he has used the Civil War as a setting for any of his novels. The story is presented through the eyes of Edwin Daws, a 56 year old Confederate soldier, from his present day (winter, 1864) awareness, as well as his memories, both recent and past. Assigned...