IN MY FATHER’S HOUSE by Ernest...

IN MY FATHER’S HOUSE by Ernest J. Gaines (Vintage: $10.). Gaines’ brooding novel evokes the early ‘70s, when a decade of assassinations, from John F. Kennedy to Martin Luther King, Jr., had dimmed the prospects of the Civil Rights Movement. Philip Martin, a dynamic black clergyman and civic leader rural Louisiana, is forced to confront the indiscretions of a past he’s carefully excluded from his life when his illegitimate son returns town. The decision to place his desire for a reconciliation with his son ahead of the needs of his parishioners, reveals Martin’s fundamental egotism. Gaines’ tautly woven story depicts the hidden arrogance that so often causes leaders to equate their personal whims with the best interests of a cause.