The Flowering Dream: The Historical Saga of Carson McCullers
by Nancy B. Rich
$25.00 hardcover, 130 pages
Published: 1999
ISBN 1880849-14-3

This book proposes that McCullers' major works are linked by an artistic design which has not been previously defined, and that the theme which extends through these works is intellectually provocative rather than emotionally evocative, as has been generally perceived.

The sense of spiritual isolation which is often seen as McCullers' theme results from the fact that one design, linearly developed, focuses on historical events which represent the failure of man's most ambitious efforts to achieve freedom in the past. The sense of despair thus evoked is exacerbated by the fact that the narrative is set in a period when American freedom itself is threatened by civil rights unrest and a global war.

The other design, developed metaphorically, counteracts the linear one in being optimistic. It consists of simple metaphors based on language, mathematics, and music. But their apparent simplicity is deceptive. Each consists of three parts, with one more implied, for the reader to identify, which in some cases, he can do only if he is significantly knowledgeable in history, religion, philosophy, literature, logic, and the arts.
McCullers' characters rarely recognize and seldom overcome major obstacles to freedom. Implicitly the reader must bring his knowledge to bear on the situations her works present if there is to be a flowering of the dream.

"Professor Rich's study of McCullers offers new insights and approaches to McCullers' best work. Rich's book is carefully written, drawing upon a wealth of knowledge and her life-long study of McCullers. Rich's book will add a new dimension to McCullers studies. Recommended reading for anyone who would look anew at Carson McCullers."

Dr. Earl Wilcox
Winthrop University

" Nancy Rich brings a long interest and involvement in Southern life and letters to bear on the work of one of the region's most intriguing authors. This study is original, interesting, and provocative. As her title indicates, Rich strikes a fine balance between the dream-like aspects of McCullers' creative imagination and the historical realities which both shaped and were interpreted by the writer's fictive structures."

Dr. Joseph Millichap
The University of Kentucky