Apr 30 2009
I’m Currently Reading…
or, rather, I’m about to read ROME HAUL, by Walter D. Edmonds. The book is about a man and a woman who meet and fall in love as they work on the Erie Canal. The work was published in 1929 and was Edmond’s first novel. In 1934 it was adapted into a play entitled “The Farmer Takes A Wife.” In 1936 it was made into a movie which brought Henry Fonda to the big screen for the first time (he had the lead role). In 1953 it was again adapted, this time into a musical starring Betty Grable and Dale Robertson.
Edmond is widely considered to be the greatest regional writer America has ever produced. His historical novels received much acclaim and were very popular. His most famous and enduring work is DRUMS ALONG THE MOHAWK, which was a national best seller when first published in 1936; in fact, it was the second best selling book of that year, bested only by GONE WITH THE WIND.
Here is some of the critical acclaim from the back of my copy:
Rome Haul would be a notable book in any season. As the first novel of a man born in 1903 it is extraordinary-NEW YORK HERALD TRIBUNE (1929).
A Richly colored addition to the panorama of American fiction-Allen Nevins-SATURDAY REVIEW OF LITERATURE.
Walter D. Edmond’s Rome Haul has given to the Erie Canal of the 1850’s a fine and graphic resurrection. We think this is one of the best of all the better historical novels-NEW YORK EVENING POST.
Assiduous research, restraint in treatment, and a great deal of fine, lucid writing distinguish this first novel by Mr. Edmonds. The author has been extraordinarily successful in recapturing the currents and cross-currents of life among ‘canawlers’-THE NEW YORK TIMES (”canawlers” is not a misspelling, it’s regional slang).
