The Wedding

by Grace Lumpkin, Lillian Barnard Gilkes (Afterword)

Like other writers of the Great Depres­sion, whose reputations are now being given a rehabilitative new look, Miss Lumpkin has remained known only to serious students of American literature and has been underappreciated until now, as readers of The Wedding , her third novel, will know. According to Lillian Gilkes, Miss Lumpkin deserves to be studied in col­lege courses, along with her Southern Eudora Welty, Katherine Anne Porter, Carson McCullers, and Flannery O’Connor. The Wedding is a significant addition to the small shelf of the American novel of manners. It is permanently valuable as social history, but it is also a perfectly controlled work of literary art. As in the novels of Jane Austen, nothing exciting happens in the most convincing way. The story is literally nothing but an account of the marriage of Jennie Mid­dleton, the eldest living daughter of a ruined aristocratic family in 1909 who live by the code of the Confederacy, and Dr. Gregg, from their quarrel the night before the wedding to the description of the ceremony going off on schedule de­spite it.

328 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1939

About the author

Grace Lumpkin (March 3, 1891 – March 23, 1980) was an American writer of proletarian literature, focusing most of her works on the Depression era and the rise and fall of favor surrounding communism in the United States.

Reviews

[Debra McCann · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found the most striking aspect of “The Wedding” by Grace Lumpkin to be the unique writing style. At first her matter of fact descriptions seem almost mechanical. Reading further, I began to feel that the author was like a film director describing to an actor concisely the thoughts and emotions of their character, also their facial expressions and body language, in a specific scene. The author is also able to describe the oppression of the black characters in a way that shines a direct light beam on the practices and attitudes of the time and place. After an introductory section, the story takes place almost entirely within a single day; the wedding day of Jennie Middleton and Dr. Greg. Jennie and Dr. Greg argue and the day unfolds for almost everyone involved with the wedding as a day of high anxiety that threatens for things to go completely off the rails. Having a day like this could cause one’s hair to fall out, or cause a nervous breakdown. Lumpkin’s development of personalities and interactions among the group is fascinating. She puts the reader into a moment and captures glimpses of fleeting human consciousness. The characters are reactionary and sometimes introspective. They often misinterpret or are oblivious to what others think and feel. It’s an interesting and unique view of human interaction. It’s also an interesting portrait of a family/community in post reconstruction, once Confederate, USA South.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

What if Charles Dickens and Margaret Mitchell had a love child, you ask? The results would resemble this!

To wit: "The Bishop paid no attention to the raised voice nor the look of anger on Robert's face. He leaned forward in his chair and laid his white transparent hand on Robert's arm. 'I was delighted when you and Jennie told me the plans for her wedding,' he said. 'Even the thought of the little silk flags was pleasant to me. I am disappointed that we are not able to use them. But after all they are a part of our sentimental feelings for the past. The past is dead and all our rebellion and bitterness cannot bring it back. We can only look over the little mementos and sigh over them. Then why make all this disturbance...'" (185)