Rat Palms

June M. Blurton is a retired speech pathologist.

This novel divides neatly into two parts. The first part shows the
southern United States in all its sultry slowness. The central family in
the story is an old established one, hanging onto tradition even though
the money has gone. The mother is elegant and whimsical. The father is a
hard-drinking baseball player from the North who does not quite make it
into the major leagues and is not quite accepted as a southerner. The
grandfather is bad-tempered and corrupt. The rebellious teenager has
been suspended from military school so that he can reflect on his sins.

When the father is admitted to a sanatorium, mother and son journey to
California by car. As the scenery changes, the characters change. From a
study in human relationships, the story evolves into an action novel.
The faster it moves, the less believable it becomes. Nevertheless, the
book is well worth reading for Homel’s vivid writing and his talent
for encapsulating the whole past life of a character in one illuminating
phrase.