Light in August

William Faulkner's 1932 novel, LIGHT IN AUGUST, takes place in the first two decades of the 20th century. Its characters are mostly marginal outcasts, but most of the story concerns Joe Christmas, an orphaned man with a mysterious past who believes himself to be part black and is, accordingly, shunned--until he meets a tragic and gruesome end at the hands of the aptly named Percy Grimm, a driven and obsessive bigot who embodies the worst of his society. Faulkner originally titled this powerful novel DARK HOUSE, but after a chance remark from his wife he went into his study, crossed out that title, and replaced it with LIGHT IN AUGUST. Like so many of Faulkner's novels from this period onward, this one deals with the difficulties of transcending race and gender in the American South.