As Summer Dies

by Winston Groom

A Southern lawyer defends the rights of a poor family of Black sharecroppers against a wealthy man who has discovered oil on the family's land

Genres: Fiction, Novels, Southern

Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1980

About the author

Winston Francis Groom Jr. was an American novelist and non-fiction writer, best known for his book Forrest Gump, which was adapted into a film in 1994. Groom was born in Washington, D.C., but grew up in Mobile, Alabama where he attended University Military School (now known as UMS-Wright Preparatory School). He attended the University of Alabama, where he was a member of Delta Tau Delta and the Army ROTC, and graduated in 1965. He served in the Army from 1965 to 1969, including a tour in Vietnam. Groom devoted his time to writing history books about American wars. More recently he had lived in Point Clear, Alabama, and Long Island, New York.

Reviews

[N. · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent story about greed and racism, set during the 1960s. I gave it 5 stars when I closed the book, but I felt unsure about that rating and went back to change it to 4/5. It's a great story but the one thing I disliked was Willie's love life. Realistic as it may have been, with a love interest who dangles Willie and drives him nuts, I desired a different ending for him and felt a bit let down. So, the imperfect rating is about the romance aspect. Otherwise, I found the story compelling and well written. I don't usually like books set in the South but I felt swept up in this story and rooted for the underdogs (the black people who lived on the land that the prominent whites planned to buy or steal from them at low price).

[Richard Guerrero · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really did enjoy it. These books about the south and those days really get to you. All the greed and the racism. Enjoyed the storyline, written well.Did not care for his love life. Would’ve been fine but he fell in Love when he knew the girl did not love him. I love books when has history, law, business and romance. Great combinations.

[Marti · Rating 3 out of 5]

This sat on my shelf far too long.

[Sharon Archer · Rating 4 out of 5]

"much like to kill a mockingbird"....that is what is on the cover. I take these blurbs with a serious grain of salt. Except for being a bit more gritty, I agree! A pool buddy lent it to me and I very much recommend this read....

[Tim Fox · Rating 3 out of 5]

The early parts were enjoyable, but the latter portion was unsatisfying. The book seemed as if the ending was completed in a rush.

[Christine Irvin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Attorney Willie Croft has not had a very stellar career in terms of his law practice. Most of his clients are drunks or deadbeats. Then, everything changes when he is asked to represent a black woman, a woman who is being poorly treated by white men.

The story takes place in the South at a time when blacks and whites don't intermingle on a regular basis. The small town of Bienville is so racially segregated that most of the colored people live in shacks way up on the hill outside of town, on land that is pretty much worthless in terms of making a living trying to farm it. These poor folk barely scrape by from day to day. But, when oil is discovered in the otherwise worthless ground, the value of the land soars overnight. Many of the colored people who live on the hill don't even own the land they live on, they were simply allowed to live there because no one else wanted to live there. But, one woman, Mrs. Backus, whose house sits on particularly oil-rich land, claims to not only hold title to the property, but that the father of her two children is Mr. Holt, a very prominent white man in the small town of Bienville.

When Croft agrees to represent Mrs. Backus' claim, life changes abruptly for everyone. The town of Bienville must face its racial segregation and the Holt family must come to terms with their heritage.

[James Garman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book smacks for books about the south along the lines to To Kill A Mockingbird. The main character is lawyer, approaching middle age. Willie Croft has been making a hard-scrabble living being a lawyer in Bienville, Louisville collecting as many clients as he can find by going to the jail and "grabbing" all the prisoners who have arrested for petty, and perhaps not so petty crimes over the weekend. He also enjoys playing pranks to irritate the judge.

But one day, his life changes when a young black woman comes into his office because her mother has been approached by an oil company to see if she might sell them the mineral rights. There is some question about the ownership although there was a transfer signed off on. The Holt family contests the transfer and before you know, there are deaths and threats and a new oil company is generated, etc.

Willie hopes to get well off enough to be to marry, but that proves impossible and he almost loses his life before he realizes that while he has accomplish something, it HAS been accomplished and he needs to move on.

I recommend it to those who enjoy mysteries, but also enjoy stories about the old south and the efforts made by some, like Atticus Finch in Too Kill A Mockingbird, to get the south to be less racially seperated.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although his literary fame rests largely on GUMP, and some good nonfiction, I frankly was mostly unaware of his other novels, this being the first I picked up (but I assure you, not the last). I really enjoyed it. I don't know if he will be affronted, but it had the feel of a Gresham story. Sure, the plot isn't that original, and he's not Faulkner (thank goodness), but he tells a good, flowing story, with characters you are interested in, decent description, a few twists, and needed commentary on class, race, and violence in the South in the 50s. The book was made into a for-TV movie, which I have never seen but might try to find.

[Brian Heim · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is far from a flawless book, but I found it to be an interesting time capsule into southern 3rd coast culture at the brink of desegregation. It’s approach at times could be viewed as offensive and dated, but the driving ideology behind the book is ever the more recant. Many have criticized the romance in this book, but I found it to be believable. The action sequence in the end of the book is one of the most creative I have read. Groom has a way of encapsulating Americana and putting it on a paperback platter for your enjoyment. This is a more standard book than his hit Forrest Gump, but it contains a similar essence of humanity.

[Mukerrem · Rating 4 out of 5]

I did enjoyed the story , interesting thing about it was is real it gets ...

[Thom · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good story. I really liked this one.

[Eleonora · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book.

[Reevrb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed the story…good writer and will be reading more of his.

[Arthur Salyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good story by the Forest Gump author. In the South...of course....Murder, racism, family, court room drama.

[crucnhRATsuprme · Rating 1 out of 5]

Pretty bad, hated willie, awful man. They way he describes and thinks about women, it fits the old age but I hate it.
Love story boring, all about the oil a little bit interesting but too much of it.
The fishing and hunting ducks where my favorite parts.

[Shar Wallis · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable summer read.

[Leslie Golden · Rating 4 out of 5]

http://www.llgolden.com/2016/08/survi...

[bonggalicious · Rating 1 out of 5]

Willie Croft survive but the love of Whitsey Holt for him was only a friend...

[Clint · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable novel by "Forrest Gump" author tells the story of a middling lawyer in a Southern town in 1959 who doesn't quite fit in until he becomes involved in a case in which he represents the have-nots against the haves. However, his identity crisis runs through the entire story — even to the last page. The novel appears to have a bit of an identity crisis itself, being part lawyer/courtroom drama, part action story, part romance, but it's not a bad blend.