The Keeper of the House by Shirley Ann Grau

There is nothing like reading a book in a place that has a connection to the story. Shirley Ann Grau is a great southern writer that lives in New Orleans. Reading the book while staying in a French Quarter rental house added that little extra to the story.

And it is a great story. The "house" is a huge southern mansion that has been added to over the years by the generations that have lived in it. The Howlands settled the land and basically own everything as far as the eye can see. Their interaction with the town is strained at best. The story is told from four perspectives and Grau does an amazing job of capturing the voices of the "keepers:" a Southern land barren, his black mistress, and the daughter who marries a striving young man hoping to make a name in politics. The interaction between the races and the sexes is gripping, and the characters are consuming as we cover the lives of three generations. This is a classic southern novel, that was rewarded with the Pulitzer Prize in 1965, and is a must read.