OLD LADY ESTEROY is a delicious novel about a wealthy, wicked old lady in Reconstruction Florida. Thwarted in love and thoroughly disappointed by the drunken men in her family, she becomes a schemer and meddler in the lives of others, including her granddaughter. She dotes on the adolescent Alicia because she sees herself in her. But Valeria Esteroy seeks vengeance for what she perceives to be the wrongs done to her and her frustrated life. Although she has managed her estate successfully and rules her family with a strong hand, she has more energy than she knows what to do with. She despises toadies yet depends upon them and expects everyone to defer to her. This is a fascinating character study of a woman who is mostly on to herself, but ultimately ends up alone and lonely.

The novel deserves to be reissued. ( )