Classics · DarkThe Lester family, poor Georgia sharecroppers, stay on their land while living conditions steadily worsen
Tobacco Road
A family of poor Georgia sharecroppers refuses to leave their land
The novel follows the Lester family, poor sharecroppers in rural Georgia during the Great Depression, whose living conditions steadily worsen. Jeeter Lester, a tenant farmer attached to his land, refuses to move to the city for factory work. His wife Ada, his son Dude, his daughter Ellie May and Grandma Lester live with him. The courtship of Dude by Sister Bessie Rice, a traveling preacher, sets off a series of chaotic events. Charles Scribner's Sons published it in 1932.
More about this book
Who
Jeeter Lester, his wife Ada, Dude, Ellie May, Grandma Lester and Sister Bessie Rice.
World
Rural Georgia during the Great Depression.
What makes it different
It is often read as social realism but contains black comedy and sensationalism. Jack Kirkland's 1933 Broadway adaptation ran for eight years.
Feel
Rough and darkly comic.
Page count and cover shown for: Selected edition
Further reading
- Tobacco RoadWikipedia