Critical Essay | Critical Essay by Elizabeth Schmidt

Critical Essay by Elizabeth Schmidt

[Walk Gently This Good Earth] hardly seems like fiction. It's comfortable and honest. The characters are like old pieces of pewter, showing a faint, stubborn luster….

[It's] not a leaden saga. It concentrates on strength, and the three characters who express it variously: the father, his daughter, her beloved.

As the title implies, the tread is light. Years of sacrifice are gently distilled into a few pages of narrative. As the characters cling together, separate, shift roles, most of them become what a family is meant to be—a unit of strength, individual and collective.

The author … spotlights brief, serious conversations. The effect, except for the stiff first chapter, is arresting and revealing. There are some moments that seem forced, but many to relish….

Elizabeth Schmidt, "Family Saga Concentrates on Strengths," in The Christian Science Monitor (reprinted by permission from The Christian Science Monitor; © 1977 The Christian Science...
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