Keziah Dane

Infobox Book
name = Keziah Dane


image_caption = 1967 first edition
author = Sue Grafton
cover_artist =
country = United States
language = English
genre = Novel
publisher = The MacMillan Company
pub_date = 1967
media_type = Print (Hardcover)
pages = 220pp "(first edition)"
isbn = ISBN 9781151888952
oclc =
preceded_by =
followed_by = The Lolly-Madonna War

"Keziah Dane" is a 1967 novel by Sue Grafton. [cite book |title=The Encyclopedia of Louisville |publisher=University Press of Kentucky |date=2001 |first=John E. |last=Kleber |isbn=9780813121000 |page=521] A work of mainstream fiction, this novel was published by Grafton was 27 years old. [cite news |work=Writers Write |title=A Conversation With Sue Grafton |url=http://www.writerswrite.com/journal/oct99/grafton.htm |date=October 1999 |first=Claire E. |last=White |quote=Her first two novels were not mysteries. Her first novel was published when she was 27 (Keziah Dane), and her second was published two years after that (The Lolly-Madonna War).] This is one of only two Sue Grafton novels published before her more famous "Alphabet" series of mystery novels.cite news |title=Sue Grafton sees mystery behind ABCs |url=http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-30314301_ITM |date=2007-04-15 |work=Daily Oklahoman |first=Brandy |last=McDonnell]

This is the fourth novel Grafton wrote but the first one published. [cite news |work=January Magazine |url=http://januarymagazine.com/grafton.html |title="G" is for Grafton: Sue Grafton's Murderous Moments |first=Linda L. |last=Richards |date=1997 |quote=Her first published book was the fourth book she'd written: Keziah Dane published was in 1967.] Originally written under the title "The Seventh Day of Keziah Dane", Grafton entered the unpublished novel in an Anglo-American Book Award contest.cite book |title=Conversations With Kentucky Writers |publisher=University Press of Kentucky |date=2003 |first=L. Elisabeth |last=Beattie |isbn=9780813190433 |page=p. 90] The novel did not win but it drew a publication offer from a British publisher which Grafton used to get an agent who got the book an American publisher, Macmillan.

Plot summary

Keziah Dane is a widow who lives "on the brink of poverty" with her children in a small Kentucky town. She lost her husband in a flood that also devastated their town. A vagrant named Web gains Keziah's trust then attempts to rape her eldest daughter. The daughter fends off the attack but kills Web in the process. The body is dumped in the flooded town and unexpected complications ensue for the Dane family.

Critical reaction

Contemporary reaction was positive with featured reviews in "The New York Times" [cite news |work=The New York Times |title=New Books |date=1967-10-02 |page=44] and "Los Angeles Times"cite news |work=Los Angeles Times |title=Farm, Flood and Aftermath |date=1967-10-22 |first=Marjorie |last=Driscoll |page=S40] , among others. Reviewer Marjorie Driscoll noted that Grafton presented her "widely varied array of characters" in a "sympathetic and understanding story" while displaying her "versatility" by "making them all very real."

References