Swallow Barn

By John Pendleton Kennedy

Book Overview

Originally published in 1832 and revised in 1851, Swallow Barn, John Pendleton Kennedy's novel of antebellum life on a tidewater Virginia plantation, was described by its author as "variously and... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• ISBN: B000JWI09C
• Release Date: January 1971
• Publisher: Hafner
• Weight: 1.65 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Intelligent and Humorous; Keep a Highlighter Handy

I chose this book for its insights into Tidewater life, since that is my heritage. (Mr. Kennedy was related to the Dandridge family.) I recommend this volume to anyone who enjoys this topic. In addition, the writing is fabulous: colorful, original, and fun. I found unique phrases and new words on almost every page (hence the highlighter); in fact, for six of the new words, this book was the only source for those words listed in the OED online. (Can you find them?) Socially, look for a northern visitor's view of early 19th-century southern perspectives on slavery; he is quite insightful.

In ol' Virginia

Basically a plotless book that contains a series of sketches depicting life on a Virginia plantation circa 1830. The main sketch involves a lawsuit over disputed land, which leads to comedy and romance. Kennedy is a skillful writer and offers up a charming picture of what life was like then. His style is light and fanciful, and one reads the book with a relaxed pleasure.