A Name for Evil

"Regeneration is far more difficult than generation," Andrew Lytle wrote to his friend and fellow writer Allen Tate. With this thought in mind, A Name for Evil examines the question of whether an individual can, through sheer force of will, recover the past. During World War II, Henry Brent and his wife Ellen buy a deteriorating Tennessee mansion named The Grove, intending to restore it and the land surrounding it to its former glory. The land, however, is imbued with the spirit of its former owner, Major Brent, a malevolent presence which hangs over The Grove, appearing to Henry as a ghostly shade throughout the run-down house. A psychological study of egotism, tradition, and progress, A Name For Evil is a tragic examination of man's consuming desire to overcome mortality by controlling the past – and future.