A review by lauli
Delta Wedding by Eudora Welty

2.0

I must say I expected more from this novel. I have really enjoyed reading Eudora Welty's stories in the past. But this one really fell flat. It started well: a southern family gathering for a wedding, family conflicts which have been silenced coming up again, stream-of-consciousness monologues by the different members of the family... But then, basically, not much happened. There was no big crisis, no climax, no moment of confrontation. Just a sort of quiet desperation on the part of some, hopelessness on the part of others, and life going on much as a usual. What I also disliked was the fact that the Fairchild family is basically a dynasty of landowners whose wealth was based first on slavery and then on the exploitation of poor black men in the Mississippi delta. Yet there is practically no criticism of this type of economic system. It is only hinted once that the overseer who is to marry one of the Fairchild daughters is dealing with some labour issues using a gun. But that's it. I thought it too bland considering the situation of black folk in the south at the time (the 1920s). I felt a bit like when I read Gone With the Wind. There is an overly romantic portrayal of the rich in the south, the "southern belles", blatantly ignoring their treatment of the white community.