Glory

New York: The John Day Company. Very Good. (c.1932). First Edition. Hardcover. (no dust jacket) [good sound book, faint soiling to covers, one-time owner's pencil signature on ffep, very slight bumping to a couple of corners]. Very scarce novel, telling of "the conflict of two strong personalities. One is the hypnotic preacher who extends his influence over the inhabitants of a Georgia hamlet, succeeding even in theft and seduction. The other is Roseanne, whose sturdy and useful life is based not on the gospel but on love and kindliness. She resists the evangelist's spell, then yields, and later in a time of dramatic crisis sees with clarity and acts with high courage." This all per the original jacket blurb -- although this copy of the book has NO jacket -- which additionally declares it to be "a genuine and permanent addition to the body of literature about the comedy and tragedy of Negro life." (The author was, of course, a respectable white lady, with rather an odd connection to African-American cultural life: her 1923 play "Roseanne" -- originally performed in blackface in New York, then remounted with an all-black cast -- was the basis for Oscar Micheaux's 1925 film BODY AND SOUL, starring Paul Robeson, who had also headlined the stage production. In fact, taking a closer look, it would appear that this novel was a "repurposing" of the original play: the characters have the same names, and the overall situation is identical. I guess Miz Stephens had just one story to tell.) .