The Homecoming of Festus: A Story of Triumph and Reunion
For thirty years, The Furrow and Hearth went bankrupt, and The Homecoming of Festus Story was out of print. It survived only in xeroxed copies passed between creative writing professors in the Midwest. In the 1990s, a literary revival began. The story was anthologized in Heartland Gothic: Stories of Rural Regret and later adapted into a low-budget independent film (now lost) shot entirely in black and white. the homecoming of festus story
Introduction
A strong, agile boy with dark hair and "flushed olive" skin. He is portrayed as responsible and athletic, having been "entrusted" with a significant business task at a young age. The Homecoming of Festus: A Story of Triumph
At its core, The Homecoming of Festus Story is a character study. First published in a now-defunct agrarian journal, The Furrow and Hearth, in 1957 by the little-known author Jesse R. Whitcomb, the story follows Festus Hargrove, a man who left his small farming community—variously named as "Pigeon Creek" or "Hardscrabble"—twenty years prior under a cloud of shame. In the 1990s, a literary revival began