The Gates of Paradise by Victor Depta (review)

Abstract

Amajor strength of The Heart ofConfederateAppalachia is its comprehensive approach, no small accomplishment when considering that inhabitants of the twenty-county area differed widely as to loyalties, political beliefs and reactions to war and invasion. Thus, much of Inscoe's and McKinney's story of secession, suspicion, war and invasion centers around economics, the role of women, the collapse of slavery, and the negative, long-term effects of the war years on western North Carolina. Well-researched, thoroughly documented and entertainingly written, The Heart of Confederate Appalachia sets a high standard for scholars researching regional history. —Marion B. Lucas Depta, Victor. The Gates ofParadise. Martin, Tennessee: Blair Mountain Press, 2000. 257 pages. Paperback. $11.95. Novels set in Appalachia typically must stand the charge that their significance lies only within this area of the United States. They are often deigned merely "regional" in their appeal, with little significance beyond their abilities to depict characters and places in this part of the country. Rarely, as is the case of Harriette Arnow's The Dollmaker, does an Appalachian novel achieve universal appeal. In Arnow's work, the struggle of Gertie Nevéis becomes the struggle of the reader, who takes away some shred of life experience after having journeyed with this mountain woman. By contrast, novels by regionalists such as Jesse Stuart often present "quaint," "picturesque," or "endearing" stories of life in the Appalachian Mountains. Such novels devote attention to language, customs and setting, often reinforcing stereotypes long held by those on the outside: the gun-toting, tobacco-chewing, hard-living, harddrinking characters who people such stories. Consequently, the value of these novels ends where the mountains end. Victor Depta's The Gate ofParadise attempts something in between these two types of work: It bears some stereotypical features of the Appalachian "regional novel," yet it aims at lasting significance unlimited by region. Depta, born in the coal mining region of West Virginia, is a Professor of English at the University of Tennessee at Martin and is the founder of Blair Mountain Press. He has long been a contributor to the literary world, having published five collections of poetry and one 71 other novel. With such a literary background, Depta should know and understand the inner workings of a quality piece of fiction. His latest effort, The Gate ofParadise, weaves a story loosely around an Appalachian family who mirror the frustrations of life in the southern coal counties during the 1950s: the back-breaking work in dust-filled mines, the enigmatic role of religion in daily life, the lure of the outside world and the desperate attempts of the people to give meaning to their existence. The novel focuses on an intriguing cast of characters: a six year-old boy, Keith, whose wife-beating father, deserts him, then seeks to reunite his family; Keith's mother, Ruby, who seems constantly in search of new sex partners; a grandmother, Leah, who begins as a mountain preacher only to end as a back-slider, mindlessly searching for some principle to hold onto; and a great-grandmother, Deborah, who seems, at times, the only stability the youngster can cling to. Threaded through this complex weave of culture and character is Franklin, an epileptic and the bastard son of Daddy Frank, Keith's long-dead great-grandfather. Years before, we are told, Daddy Frank brought the baby home for his wife to rear after the mother abandoned him. Predictably, Deborah despises the child, now adult, but allows Franklin to remain in the home after Daddy Frank's death. Franklin becomes the novel's most interesting character. Questions abound as to whether Franklin is really Daddy Frank's offspring, whether he is mentally retarded, and whether he will be able to survive attempts by Wade, another family member, to send him to the state insane asylum after Deborah's death. Franklin becomes, ultimately, the friend of Keith who quickly sees the good in him. Ruby, a mountain woman with loose ways, is another of Depta's clever creations. Although a poor example for her son, she comes off a sympathetic soul who only wants a man who'll treat her decently, be a father to her child and...