The Crazy Hunter

At 17, Nan wants to leave the family farm and go to study. Caught between her powerful mother and yielding, drunken father, she absorbs the tensions of their divided household and dotes on her new gelding, a gift from her father. When a sudden accident leaves the horse blind, Nan's mother insists he must be put down, initiating a power struggle that brings the family's conflicts explosively to the fore. First published in 1938, The Crazy Hunter is an electrifying short novel-sharply observed, psychologically astute and morally complex. Written in lush, entrancing prose, it is the finest work by a significant modernist writer.