"Here is a book which faces directly the overwhelming question of good and evil and reaffirms our faith in the dignity of life. J.T. Malone, the unwilling hero of this powerful novel, is engaged in an inner struggle that parallels his impending death. Through extreme moral suffering he discovers the greatest danger is not death but the loss of one's own self in life, and because of a decision of conscience, he acts and finds himself. His story is interwoven with that of the old Judge and former Congressman, Fox Clane, and Jester, the Judge's adolescent grandson. All three characters move to their accomplished destiny through Sherman Pew, a blue-eyes Negro boy. Their story is told with that curious blend of humor, compassion, irony and power, which characterizes all of Carson McCullers' writing." - 1961 hardcover jacket notes.