When he was writing his first novel in the mid 1930s, Waters Edward Turpin declared, through one of his major characters, what was to become the central philosophy of the four novels, two plays, and other minor pieces he was to write during the next three decades. The character clearly reflects Turpin's personal convictions when he avers that he wants to

... tap the untouched literary material offered by that little-known section of the American scene, the Eastern Shore of Maryland ... to put into [my] novel form the life of ... [my] family--all about ... [my] grandmother and grandfather, and their parents, a sort of Saga of Achievement ... [to see myself] as just another American ... [with something] glorious in ... [my] past and ... hopeful in ... [the] future.

Such a statement of purpose suggests accurately for Turpin the roles of historical novelist, regionalist, family chronicler, and mythopoet. It suggests his intention to generate...