Fox's Earth
by Anne Rivers Siddons
List Price: $6.99
Pages: 464
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 0061010650
Publisher: HarperCollins
Ever since she first saw the huge, sprawling house they called "Fox's
Earth," little Ruth Yancey knew she wanted it for herself. The poor daughter
of an insane hell-fire preacher and his battered wife, Ruth discovered
her sexuality was her only ticket out of poverty and abuse. Quickly snaring
the love of the ugly, dim-witted young Paul Fox, Ruth ingratiated her
way into the hearts of his sweet parents as well. With an incredible degree
of determination and will power, Ruth slowly transforms herself from an
uneducated mill town waif, into a Southern belle of proper breeding and
manners. Cleverly manipulating her tractable husband and unsuspecting
in-laws, Ruth begins a lifelong campaign to gain complete dominance over
all who live in Fox's Earth. Ruth knew the key to her grasp on the estate
lay in her ability to control the females of Fox's Earth, her own offspring
included. She turns her only child, Hebe, into a frightened, clingy woman
desperate for her mother's affection, and then attempts to manipulate
her grandchildren as well. Ruth is strangely aided and abetted, by her
servant, Rip, who quietly and carefully watches Ruth spin out her web
of domination over the household. Rip remains her mute assistant in all
of her machinations in a desperate attempt to protect the young children
of Fox's Earth from Ruth's direst schemes. But as the grandchildren grow
older, Ruth finds her control slipping away from her, and her dangerous
plans must escalate in order to maintain power. It is the youngest grandchild,
Nell, Ruth's chosen successor, that initiates the collapse of Ruth's carefully
laid plans. Faced with a disappointing marriage and a stifled writing
career, Nell slowly learns how to break free from her grandmother's domination,
and chart a life of her own making.
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1. How does Pearl Yancey prepare her daughter for life? What advice does she give Ruth, both spoken and unspoken? What role does Pearl's ghost play in Ruth's life?
2. The key relationship in the novel is between mother and daughter. How do the various mother-daughter relationships differ? Are any of them healthy? How is madness passed down to the next generation of Fox's women? Does Nell break the chain of abuse?
3. How would you define the complex relationship between Rip and Ruth? Why does each need the other? How does each have the other trapped? What is it that finally enables Rip to act out against her employer?
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