Post by Graveyardbride on Sept 26, 2014 10:50:03 GMT -5
Book Review: Harvest Home by Thomas Tryon
Harvest Home, by Thomas Tryon, is one of the best books I have ever read. Tryon seduces readers into a sense of contentment, then slaps them in the face with unspeakable horror. As we readers, along with the main character, slowly unravel a mystery, we become totally immersed in this page-turner written in 1973, which was on the New York Times Bestseller List for five weeks.
The main characters are members of the Constantine family. Husband/father Ned is an artist and the book is written from his viewpoint. Beth is his wife and they have an asthmatic daughter named Kate, who is sensitive to animal dander. The three live unhappily in a cramped New York City apartment. On a whim detour after returning from Beth's father's funeral, they cross an ancient covered bridge and discover an enchanting village called Cornwall Coombe.
The entire family instantly falls in love with "the Coombe," a tiny agrarian community that eschews much of modern life and embraces ancient farming practices and other traditions of their forefathers. Although the citizens of Cornwall Coombe are suspicious of outsiders and rarely allow anyone to purchase land in the area, the Constantines are invited to buy a beautiful old Colonial home at a bargain price, made possible by the novel's antagonist, Mary Fortune, a widow, commonly known as “the Widow.” In short order, Ned and his family make the move to the country and become part of the "back to the land" movement of the 1970s.
The Constantines first encounter the Widow on their initial visit to Cornwall Coomb. As the aged matriarch of the village, the Widow Fortune serves as its spiritual leader, historian, midwife and healer. She takes an immediate interest in the Constantine family, especially their teenage daughter. She takes them :under her wing" and tries to school them in the customs of the Coombe.
Readers – like the Constanines – are practically forced to be enchanted by the tiny New England hamlet. Its quiet lanes are lined by stately, yet unassuming old homes, towering trees and well- tended garden plots, and the streets resound with the clip-clop of horses' hooves. In the center of town, there is a pub, a post office, a church and a common where sheep graze freely. The handsome church has a cemetery with graves dating back almost 300 years. One lone grave, however, lies outside the perimeter of the graveyard proper, and Nick finds this intriguing. As he begins to solve they mystery of Grace Everdeen's burial in unhallowed ground, each answer brings him another question and ultimately lead to his downfall.
The family settles down in their new home that once belonged to a member of the Penrose family; Kate, with the help of the Widow, overcomes her asthma and is able to own and ride a horse, and Beth seemingly joins some sort of women’s “club.” Nick begins to hear the phrase “what no man knows, nor woman tells” and references to the “mother” and the “eternal return.”
The story is filled with irony. The Constantines believe they have discovered their "heart's desire" at the end of that fateful rainbow, when in fact, Ned is plunged into his own personal Hell. We soon discover the peaceful, bucolic village and its simple farm folk embrace horrific traditions. Even the Widow's name, Fortune, proves to be a terrifying misnomer.
One reason the ending of the book is so horrifying is that many readers are able to relate to the Constantines. They're an average American family with marital problems – the local siren has set her sights on Nick – and a problem teenager. They're totally believable and Tryon manipulates readers into liking them. We want them to find happiness and achieve their goals. When the ultimate secret of the village is finally revealed, we are shocked and filled with horror.
The novel also contains many allusions to Greek mythology, pagan rites and antiquated customs of agrarian societies throughout history, especially the Eleusinian Mysteries, which were held each year in ancient Greece in the worship of Demeter and Persephone. They were of utmost importance and so secretive that even today, we know very little about their practices. Cornwall Coombe practices its own similar mysterious rituals, but only the females are allowed to participate in the grand finale.
Harvest Home is a great read for those interested in the horror, suspense and mystery. While it is not the typical blood-and-guts horror story, it is terrifying, largely due to its believability. Tryon, a master storyteller, keeps readers enthusiastically engaged from the first page to the last.
Source: Holle Abee, Humanities.
Note: Harvest Home can be purchased used from Amazon for as little as 1¢.
