The Fathers (Masterplots, Revised Second Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Allen Tate
- First Published: 1938
- Type of Work: Novel
- Type of Plot: Historical realism
- Time of Work: 1860-1861
- Setting: Northern Virginia and Georgetown
- Principal Characters: Lacy Gore Buchan, Major Lewis Buchan, Semmes Buchan, Susan Buchan Posey, George Posey, Jane Posey, John Langton, Yellow Jim
- Genres: Long fiction, Historical fiction
- Subjects: Family or family life, Memory, Tradition, South or Southerners, Nineteenth century, Civil War, Good and evil, Moral conditions
- Locales: Virginia, Washington, D.C.
The Story:
Lacy Buchan, a sixty-year-old bachelor, thought back over the year 1860, when he was fifteen and his mother died. That April, family and friends gathered at Pleasant Hill in Fairfax County, Virginia, for the funeral, the last time they were all together. Among those present were the Poseys, Lacy’s sister Susan’s in-laws. Susan’s husband, George, rode his horse away from the funeral, causing much gossip.
Young Lacy recalled his memories of George, his brother Semmes’ friend. During a visit two years before, George had given Lacy a gun. The next day,...
[The entire page is 3003 words long]
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