["Scarlet Sister Mary"] represents a very definite advance in the technical handling of rarely interesting material, without any sacrifice of the notable qualities of honesty, sincerity, sympathy, and keen observation that made "Black April" and "Green Thursday" landmarks of first importance in the south's current literary revival.

"Green Thursday," a collection of short stories, left behind it an impression of freshness; it sounded a new note in the handling of rich race material by a Southern author. The stories in the volume were wholly free from the several clichés that have attached themselves to the treatment of the negro in fiction. They had a primal vigor, a direct and at times shocking brutality, prompted, however, by nothing except the author's unmistakable desire to set down the life about her wholly and without mitigation….

"Black April," among its other striking qualities, showed Mrs. Peterkin's ability to create living...