THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 23, 1995 TAG: 9507200496
SECTION: COMMENTARY PAGE: J2 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Book Review
SOURCE: BY EDITH R. WHITE
LENGTH: Medium: 86 lines
TOBACCO STICKS
WILLIAM ELLIOTT HAZELGROVE
Pantonne Press. 308 pp. $18.95.
Richmond 1945 is the setting for this novel, but the essence of the old South is evoked by descriptions of the growing and curing of tobacco on the plantations in the time of slaves. A paragraph from an agricultural account heads each of the book's 32 chapters.
Author William Elliott Hazelgrove (Ripples) was born in Virginia, raised for a while in Richmond, and knows his territory. He describes the city in 1945 as ``still a Southern town that when not called upon to act as a city, fell back asleep on the rolling hills of Virginia.''
The story is told from the point of view of 12-year-old Lee Hartwell, the youngest son of a distinguished Richmond family. Lee's older brother, Lucas, comes home wounded from the war. His best buddy has been killed, and Lucas has been shot in the foot, not exactly a heroic injury as his family is quick to point out.
Lee's father, Burke, is a prestigious lawyer who represents a steel mill owned by his rich and powerful neighbor, Mr. Hillman. Burke is proud to head the campaign for re-election of the renowned Senator Herrin, an apple-orchard owner whom some may compare to Sen. Robert Byrd, not only because of his birdlike name and his occupation, but also because he objects to labor unions and to change in Virginia's way of life.
The Hartwells live in a white-columned family home set on acres of rolling ground. They have several black servants, loyal old family retainers and a constant supply of bourbon and cigarettes. Lee and his friends have woods and a treehouse in which to play, and two attractive girls to ease them into adolescence. There is a wise and ancient grandma, Mimaw, an invalid lying in the third-floor bedroom and sensing the inner workings of the family.
The story begins with nostalgic descriptions of the countryside and boyhood delights, a Cold Sassy Tree sort of rural family saga. But skulduggery is afoot. When Lee and his friends spend the night in the treehouse, they spot a lantern in the graveyard and sneak through the woods in time to observe two men burying something in a freshly dug hole by a gravestone.
After Mr. Hillman's silver tea set is discovered missing, he accuses Fanny, a young black girl with ``uppity'' ideas about voter rights and equality. Politics and unions are used to thicken the plot.
Burke Hartwell, Lee's father, takes on the defense of Fanny because she is the daughter of his faithful family servant. Suddenly lawyer Hartwell is cast in the role of the brave defender of justice. In courtroom scenes reminiscent of To Kill A Mockingbird, Burke confronts the wealthy steel owner and the powerful senator even though it means the sacrifice of safety and fortune for the Hartwell family.
Hazelgrove dramatizes how during this period in Richmond the old traditions of white supremacy have not gone with the wind. When Lee learns from a black youth the fun of rolling a wagon wheel with a tobacco stick, his former pals jeer at him for playing with a Negro. But the wheels of change are set in motion.
Hazelgrove is a good storyteller. He knows just how to let the plot of Tobacco Sticks build with emotion and excitement.
Some of the writing is confusing, however. It is not always clear who is speaking; and a few of the characters are manipulated too handily. But the novel makes it clear that just as inevitably as magnolias bloom in the South and hogsheads of tobacco leaves are rolled to the James River, so must the storms of change come rolling through Richmond.
Mimaw sums it up: ``You can see for miles on a sunny day, but it's just before the storm you see how things really are.''
In Richmond, this novel could kick up a storm. MEMO: Edith R. White is a Norfolk artist, storyteller and librarian. by CNB