The loved and the unloved

This novel explores the complex and mercurial nature of human emotions This is a tragic story told by Max Harper, the son of a Mississippi sharecropper. He lives with his parents and brother on land owned by a benevolent planter named Acroft. It seems a great wrong for a boy so warm and intelligent to be crushed in the pit of poverty. Despite the unbridled contempt Acroft's bullying son Vance inflicts on the Harper family, the young Max remains sensitive and restrained. However, Vance's scorn for Max fuels an antagonism that leads to a tragic and violent death.