Roberts, Elizabeth Madox (1881–1941), born in the Kentucky farming region, which she described in her fiction, graduated from the University of Chicago (1921). Her first publications were volumes of verse,
In the Great Steep's Garden (1915) and
Under the Tree (1922, enlarged 1930), and her later poetry is collected in
Song in the Meadow (1940), containing lyrics and verse legends.
The Time of Man (1926), her first novel, set in the Kentucky countryside, deals with poor whites possessed by the restless pioneer urge.
My Heart and My Flesh (1927), another novel with a pastoral background, is the tragic story of a woman driven to the verge of madness. The author's scrupulous and effective re‐creation of folk cus‐toms and speech distinguishes her further fiction, which includes
Jingling in the Wind (1928), a satirical fantasy whose chief character is a rainmaker on his way to a professional convention;
The Great Meadow (1930), a historical novel, depicting the beauty and terror of pioneer life in Kentucky;
A Buried Treasure (1931), a humorous narrative about a farmer and his wife who discover a pot of gold;
The Haunted Mirror (1932), short stories of Kentucky mountain folk;
He Sent Forth a Raven (1935), a novel concerned with the relation of farmers to the soil they till;
Black Is My Truelove's Hair (1938), the story of a village girl and the two love affairs that shape her life; and
Not by Strange Gods (1941), stories mainly about Kentucky women.
