Surface of Earth [Paperback]

Published in 1975,The Surface of Earthis the monumental narrative that charts the slow, inextricable twining of the Mayfield and Kendal families. Set in the plain of North Carolina and the coast and hills of Virginia from 1903 to 1944, it chronicles the marriage of Forrest Mayfield and Eva Kendal, the hard birth of their son, Eva's return to her father after her mother's death, and the lives of two succeeding generations.
The Surface of Earthis the work of one of America's supreme masters of fiction, a journey across time and the poignantly evoked America of the first half of our century that explores the mysterious topography of the powers of love, home, and identity. In his evocation of the hungers, defeats, and rewards of individuals in moments of dark solitude and radiant union, Price has created an enduring literary testament to the range of human life.Chapter 1

ABSOLUTE PLEASURES

MAY 1903

Who told Thad she was dead? Rena asked.

Thad killed her, Eva said. He already knew.

Their father -- from his rocker, almost dark in the evening -- said, Hush your voices down. Your mother's on the way. And never call himThad.He was her dear father, your own grandfather; and of course he never killed her.

Kennedy said, He gave her the baby. The baby killed her. So I think he did justice, killing himself.

Shame, their father said. He drew at his cigar. I hope none of you lives to face such a choice. Another draw. But one of you will. Then remember tonight -- the cruelty you've talked against the helpless dead.

He had started directing his answer to Kennerly -- Kennedy was leaving home in a week: a job, his life -- but he ended it on Eva. His middle child, his choice of the three, the thing in the world (beside his own mother, dead twenty years) that he'd loved and still loved, for sixteen years.

Dark as it was, Eva met his eyes and waited him out. Then she said, l¢