On the Southern Literary Trail discussion

Comments on this board are made with the assumption that readers have finished the book and may include spoilers.

I really liked this one and hope that those of you who couldn't get to it this month can eventually fit it in.

"Weeds" is a forgotten novel of the 1920s that was reissued several times in the 70s, 80s, and 90s during the feminist movement. It's a character study of Judith, an effervescent child of nature who followed her father around the farm helping with chores. She was full of energy, had an artistic talent, and took great joy in observing the outdoor world. Her life changed as the wife of a Kentucky tenant farmer and the mother of three children. She found that the endless cycle of household chores, difficult pregnancies, and constant childcare was a soul-crushing existence. Even though she had a hardworking husband, the weather could wipe out any hope of escaping poverty. Judith went through times of anger and depression dealing with her unrelenting duties. She was a person who needed time to enjoy the outdoor world.

Malnourishment was also a big problem with families subsisting on corncakes when their other food ran out in the mid-winter. Pregancies and nursing took their toil on the malnourished women, and they aged quickly. The book made me wonder what type of life Judith would have had under different circumstances, or without children/fewer children.

I loved the fiddler, Uncle Jabez, who found joy in the little things in life like watching the sun set.

My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

(I really appreciated my washing machine by the end of the book!)

Connie, did Uncle Jabez remind you a little of Burley Coulter? Jabez was my favorite character after Judith. His death hit me hard, all alone in his cabin.

Connie wrote: ""Weeds" is a forgotten novel of the 1920s that was reissued several times in the 70s, 80s, and 90s during the feminist movement. It's a character study of Judith, an effervescent child of nature wh..."

I enjoyed your review, Connie. You've done a great job of capturing the essence of the novel and Judith's character while providing historical context. I also appreciate how you bring out the importance of Uncle Jabez as a sympathetic character.

I was gonna review this book but now don't feel the need to. Don't have much to add!

Diane, you're right that Uncle Jabez has similar qualities as Burley Coulter! It was sad that he died all alone after he had brought so much joy into people's lives.

Ron wrote: "Connie wrote: ""Weeds" is a forgotten novel of the 1920s that was reissued several times in the 70s, 80s, and 90s during the feminist movement. It's a character study of Judith, an effervescent chi..."

Thanks, Ron. I'll be thinking of Uncle Jabez the next time I see a spectacular sunset!

Goodness, I have been sitting on my thoughts of this book for too long. I haven't written my review either, Ron. However, mine won't be nearly as glowing as Connie's and Diane's.

I loved the way the novel began with the family gathering and visiting scenes. Judith's childhood spent outdoors and the nature writing was an added benefit to the story. I had high hopes even with this more straight-forward style of writing.

But, for me, where this story lost it's verve was in my own comparison to The Time of Man. These were similar topics and characters that it's inevitable to compare them and the winner will be different for each of us. I absolutely adored Ellen Chesser in TTOM and her whimsy as a child. Both she and Judith experience similar hardships as tenant tobacco farmers. For me, Judith was way less likable and very selfish regarding her children and her marriage. I wasn't sure what the disconnect was between she and her husband. She loved him and certainly got the best of the crop of men in this town but it seemed as if she turned on him and hated being pregnant and having to take care of her family.

If someone has some insight into this, please share because this aspect of Judith's personality was troubling to me. I understand the strain of the lifestyle and that her husband just couldn't catch a break might have disillusioned her. But the affair with the evangelist (who clearly wasn't a true man of God) was out of place.

As far as the writing style, I must admit that I preferred the modernist prose of TTOM to this. There were times when I got the feeling that Kelley was telling me how the people in eastern KY behaved as if she was watching from the outside. And learning about her background, this made sense. It's also interesting that this one was written a few years before TTOM.

I know this is long but I've been pondering it for about a week. I hate it when I'm on the outlier side of our group reads. But I always appreciate the insights that you all provide.

I think I might have connected with Judith a little more than you Lori. No matter how dedicated a wife and mother you may be, there are times when you just feel so constrained you need to escape for a while. Judith was a free spirit who did her best for her kids, but given the limitations of time and money, lack of food in the winter months, drafty tenant cabins, weather related crop failures no matter how hard you worked; add to that her difficult pregnancies and need for time to herself. I think the affair was an escape for just a little while. I was more willing to forgive her for that than the evangelist who just moved on to the next woman who needed a little attention. He was the bigger sinner in my opinion. I also think, good as her husband was, he was content with their life, she was not. I also liked the realism and straightforward narrative in this more than in A Time of Man.

All valid points, Diane. I do understand the need to escape life's drudgery at times. We've all experienced this as women, spouses, mothers. And some women aren't meant for these roles either. Maybe this was Judith's plight? She was different from the traditional females and therefore maybe would have been better off living with her father and been a spinster. She could have kept the farm for him and maybe had outside help. Who knows? She could have wound up like the servant in Aunt (?)'s household who worked there her entire life and had nothing to count for it other than some savings that she couldn't use.

I have to ask those who read this - did your version have the horrific child birth scene that was supposedly cut initially and put back in later? My kindle version did not, but it did have the part where Judith tries to abort the pregnancy. 😬

My book had the part where Judith tried to abort the pregnancy after her affair, but not the graphic birth of her first child.

Ellen in The Time of Man was a much more likable character. I do find it upsetting when a character is a neglectful mother like Judith in Weeds. But I felt that both books showed us the hard life of a tenant farmer and their families. I didn't knock a star off because Judith does not have my values since it's probably realistic that some women don't want to be mothers. She and her husband seemed to be doing well together before they had children.

I wonder if things might have been better if Judith's mother had not died so young. She might have learned a little about cooking and childcare, and spent more time at her parents' farm visiting with the kids.

Wow! I’m enjoying the lively and insightful discussion of these two books. Comparing the two is inevitable, as Lori pointed out. They have female protagonists, female authors with three names, similar settings, and they were published only three years apart.

The author’s styles, while quite different, share some similarities. Both writers display a keen eye for detail and are capable of elegant, musical phrasing. I particularly enjoyed this passage from Weeds: “The year passed quickly for them both in their delirium of early love. Accident was kind to them and did not thrust upon them with untimely speed the physical results of the sweet intimacy that they enjoyed. So they did not have to hasten their marriage, and the neighbors were deprived of a juicy bit of scandal.”


This is a verbose way of saying that since she didn’t get pregnant, they avoided a shotgun wedding and scandal, but it’s nonetheless lyrical and entertaining. Part of the charm for me is Kelley’s subtle cynicism directed toward the people who inhabit her book, visible here in the “juicy bit of scandal” phrase. This tone is evident throughout if not prevalent. She looks upon the folks as ignorant, dull, and unimaginative, with the exceptions of Uncle Jabez and Judith, who both are cursed with imagination and a bit of artistic talent.

That these traits contribute to the misery—desperate in Judith’s case—of these soul mates is the main theme of the book. People who possess a creative spirit are unfit for a life of drudgery whose only purpose is survival and procreation. The unending toil is soul crushing for those of an imaginative turn of mind. Part of them must die in order to survive under such harsh conditions. As a result the Judiths of the world become desperate in an attempt to salvage an essential part of who they are. If Judith had been blessed with more creative outlets, opportunities for lively discussion, and exposure to art, she could have flourished. Even though she loved nature, she was more suited to city life.

I agree that her bitterness and shockingly bad decisions make her a less than likable character. She is complex and flawed, almost a tragic hero. Ellen in TToM, on the other hand, succeeds where Judith fails at being able to hold onto at least a bit of optimism. Life for her has also been cruel. She and her family are forced to leave in the middle of the night, but there is the shared feeling that they’re going to a better place, their own place maybe with an orchard, maybe even books, and, most importantly, peace and opportunity. Ellen is in possession of hope and her spirit is intact.

I wouldn’t call this a happy ending exactly, but it’s not tragic as in Weeds. Judith’s soul dies after learning of Uncle Jabez’s pitiful death, and she gives up on ever finding a glimmer of light in what remained of a life that “seemed to stretch endlessly, endlessly . . . through a sad, dead level of unrelieved monotony.”


I’m sympathetic toward Judith and all of our forebears who suffered and struggled so valiantly against their cruel fates. Both books are invaluable in helping us to see how fortunate we are and what a debt we owe to those who paved the way for our comfort and the luxury of being able to chart our own futures.

Bravo, Ron! Your fourth paragraph says it all for me. I really did like Judith, and felt the tragedy of her spirit and intelligence being buried under poverty, not just by lack of money, but lack of opportunity and exposure to other views and people. Yes, both these books, and others like them, make me feel so fortunate to be living in today's world, modern problems and all.

There were probably some artistic qualities in Judith and Uncle Jabez that were semi-autobiographical. When Edith Summers Kelley was living on a farm or ranch, the author wrote for a few hours every day when her children were attending school. Her husband, Fred Kelley, was an artist who grew up on a farm, and turned back to farming to make ends meet. I would guess that they both might have felt a bit trapped, but they had each other for support.

Very nice comparison of the two books, Ron!

Thanks, Connie and Diane! I enjoyed reading and thinking about these books, and I enjoyed your comments as well.