Despite the praise, the reputation, and the acknowledged importance of Miss Gordon's work, her fiction has not received the kind of critical attention one might have expected it to attract, particularly in an age so productive of literary criticism. To date, there has been only one thin pamphlet and a half-dozen or so articles about Caroline Gordon's eight novels and her two collections of short stories. One reason Miss Gordon's fiction has not attracted much critical attention is that her novels have never been popular; for, though we may prefer to think there is no significant connection between book sales and critical acclaim, popular "serious" writers like John Steinbeck and Ernest Hemingway have received more critical attention than their books require. But among other reasons that Caroline Gordon has been ignored is the fact that she is a demanding writer. Most of her novels are difficult to read...