Sironia, Texas is a novel by American author Madison Cooper that describes life in the fictional town of Sironia, Texas, in the early 20th century. The book won the Houghton Mifflin Literary Award. Sironia is widely thought to be a thinly disguised version of Cooper's hometown of Waco, Texas. The book contains over 1,700 pages, making it one of the longest novels in the English language. Written over a period of 11 years, it was published in 1952. It sold 25,000 copies in its initial printing, but quickly faded from public view. Cooper subtly satirized upper-class southerners throughout the book.
Synopsis Follows the fortunes and failures of the citizens of Sironia, Texas in the early years of the 20th century. Though just a young child at the story's beginning, Tam Lipscomb, the son of a prosperous merchant, will go on to become the novel's central character. Also covered are the lives of the "Hill Families" (the Thaxtons, Storrows and Hadyns), Sironia's version of royalty and three branches of the old Reardon family tree. Likewise the town's black folk are followed in their own triumphs and defeats; they experience success in family life and also bitter racism due to interracial marriage.
Plot
Book One: Thaxton Hill Marshal Lipscomb, a local merchant, spends the night with friends Calvin Thaxton and Bill Elliot at his cabin on Suicide Bluff. Calvin is the patriarch of one of Sironia’s “Hill Families”, who are all related through the Reardon Family line, and Bill is an ex-circus roustabout who’s done well in business. Calvin and Marshall remain good friends despite Marshall’s star-crossed love affair with Milly Thaxton, Calvin’s wife, when they were young.
On the night of Milly Thaxton’s annual Last Friday party, Moira Lipscomb hides in a pavilion, or “summerhouse”, to spy on the party, which her husband has attended alone. Jed Hadyn slips outside with the attractive Laurine Lane, whose scream upon discovering the spying Moira draws the attention of the party.
Laurine’s mother has hopes the girl will marry the wealthy Jed, while Milly Thaxton hopes Laurine will marry her son Lance, whose intellectual disability Milly is in denial of. Plain-looking orphan Trina Storrow shares a cabin with old Cousin Nathalia near Storrow Manor. Some in the family hope Trina will marry Jed someday, but Trina knows he wants Laurine.
Hazel Elliott holds a First Friday party at her home, called the Elliott Hotel, which Milly refuses to attend. Jed leaves the party early with Laurine and they have sex. They return to the party, where Jed is pressured into dancing with Trina, both aware of the family machinations to pair them together.
Marshall is invited to Syringa, a home near the Lipscomb cabin, by Young Tom Bly. Tom, the estranged half-sibling of Hazel Elliott, needs an executor for his will. Patsy Garrick, one of Tom's lovers, eavesdrops as Tom reveals a secret to Marshall.
Having fled home after an argument with her mother, Laurine offers to marry Lance Thaxton, offending Milly due to a rumor the girl is pregnant. Laurine leaves Sironia with a traveling salesman. Cousin Nettie Hicks Vaughan, who has helped run the household since the deaths of Jed and three-year-old Nelia's parents, horrifies Jed by attempting to force herself on him sexually. Jed flees to see Trina, asking her to marry him.
Mammy watches over her grandchildren. Bill Elliott offers the children a buggy ride on his buggy, showing particular interest in Jared. Marshall is approached by Patsy Garrick, who flirts with him. When he does not reciprocate, she alludes to knowing a secret that could hurt people, giving him an address in New Orleans where can visit her.
Calvin receives a telegram from a man named Jalloux who he and Bill have given money for oil land in Beaumont. The oil wells have come in but Jalloux needs more money. Milly is wary about the deal; Calvin agrees to wire friends in Beaumont.
Caleb Hone, editor of the Sironia Sentinel, frets as one of the town's recurring floods nears. He asks Hazel Elliott to head flood relief efforts. When the flood hits, relief supplies and tempers grow short. Hazel is rushed by Bill to the Skating-Rink Ward, where the women sheltering there have rebelled against Milly, who is aiding in the efforts. Milly is being confronted by a mob of women led by Mrs Temple. Hazel grabs a buggy whip and wades in, lashing Mrs. Temple into submission.
On a drunken night, Calvin and Bill engage in a race over a bridge. Later, Marshall finds their buggies have plunged over the side; both Calvin and Bill are dead. Hazel requests that the men have a joint funeral, but Milly refuses. Word comes in from Beaumont. Mysteriously, Jalloux holds all the land where oil was found while the land held by the others is dry. Hazel plans to sell the Elliott Hotel and move to a smaller house, while Milly will use money from an inheritance to pay off Calvin’s debts.
A few years pass. Milly is visited by family, Sallie Jane Hicks and her daughters, Violet and nine-year-old Bessie. Tam Lipscomb attends a party at Mammy's home. Luella is vain about her teeth, the best in Sironia. Jared is a serious boy near Tam's age. Bennie entertains them with physical gags. Mulatto Leah Smith, working for Carietta, drops in to play. Nelia rides up, and the children play hide-and-seek. Leah frets over her "place" in Sironia due to her biracial status. Mammy says that white folks and black folks are supposed to stay with their own kind; mixed-race folks, like Leah and Jared, must stay with the black folks.
A doctor warns Trina that three miscarriages have made it unsafe to get pregnant. Hazel offers to get some contraception for her. Having learned that Jed is having an affair, Trina seduces him. After promising she’s on contraception, they have sex, and Jed promises not to cheat anymore. In reality, Trina means to get pregnant despite the risk.
Young Tom requests to meet with Hazel. Before going, she visits Nanette Lane. Rumor is that Laurine, running a brothel under the name Lola Wagrill, was driven from New Orleans by vigilantes. Tom shows Hazel a package found in Calvin’s things containing cash, and an agreement between Bill and Calvin for the latter to use the money to help Bill's illegitimate child if he should die. Tom shows the record of the only child born in Sironia on the date mentioned, shocking her. Later, Jared arrives at Hazel's, unsure why she summoned him. Hazel searches Jared's face, noticing similarities to Bill.
Patsy Garrick plans to meet Marshall at his cabin. She goes to see Young Tom, teasing him with all she knows about the "storm of 1861". At the cabin, Patsy is armed with a pistol. Walking the Bluff, Patsy hears someone coming through the woods. Thinking it's Marshall, she turns around and recognizes a different person coming at her.
Caleb pens a rant against Sironia. Among the topics are rumors of Jed cheating with a “Polish redhead”, Jared and his parentage, and the disappearance of Patsy Garrick. Caleb catches his office helper, Wolfgang, spying over his shoulder. He threatens to fire the boy before ripping up the papers. Later, Caleb runs into Mr. Lane, who shows him the day’s paper. Caleb realizes that Wolfgang retrieved the torn-up diatribe about Sironia and printed it.
Jed flirts with waitress Della Kolchak at the depot restaurant. Jed is summoned to a pow-wow of family and friends to discuss the controversial news article. Caleb has temporarily closed the paper and left town. Jed admits what was written about him is true. After the meeting, Lance tells Milly that he saw Moira rowing towards the Bluff on the day Patsy Garrick disappeared, saying he told Splice Rogan about it. Trina is injured during a Hadyn Hill party, with Nathalia finding her badly injured. A drunken Jed comes home and Moira breaks the news. Trina had gone up to the attic to spy on Jed at the depot, and tripped coming back down. Both Trina and the baby are dead.
Book Two: Storrow Hill It is now 1910, and Tam is fifteen years old. He has a contentious relationship with Cousin Ruth, who is staying with the Lipscombs. Tam gets permission to take the buggy to drive his friends to a dance. The next morning, Ruth tells Marshall about Tam sneaking in and being thrown out of the dance. Marshall whips Tam with a crop, but Tam snatches it away and flees on his bicycle. He hides in Mammy’s corn crib. After dark, Tam rides by his house. Marshall is worried, and Moira has sent Ruth home. Tam hands his father the riding crop, signaling that he’s ready for his punishment. Marshall whips him, telling Tam never to make him do this again.
Young Tom bought the newspaper during Caleb’s absence, helping it stay afloat. The day after Trina’s death, it was learned that Jed married to Della Kolchak, who many feel took advantage of Jed’s drunken grief. He has not allowed Della to stay on Hadyn Hill, keeping her out at his farm. Caleb, back in town, spots a tall, redheaded woman disembark at the depot. It’s Laurine Lane, now known as Lola Wagrill. Lola is driven to the town’s whorehouse, which she intends to buy.
Tam and his friends find the body of a woman in the river. The woman is identified as Patsy Garrick. Marshall admits to Moira that he’d gone up to the cabin with a revolver, but found that Patsy had fallen from the Bluff. Panicked, Marshall buried her where she’d fallen, her grave proving adequate until the recent flooding. Moira meets with Young Tom. She worries that Oscar Rogan, who wants to run for Congress, will use the Garrick case to win public support. Moira admits meeting Patsy on the Bluff in an attempt to reason with her. Patsy grabbed her and tried throwing her over the edge. Instead, Patsy lost her balance and went over. Tom agrees to help her out of her predicament.
Marshall is interviewed by Judge Rogan. Marshall admits he went up to the Bluff, but insists that he found Patsy dead. Rogan says Moira was seen heading to the Bluff that day. At home, Moira tells Marshall her story. Marshall plans to confess, sparing her, but Tom invents a story to get Moira and Marshall off the hook, saying he witnessed Patsy accidentally tripping and falling from the Bluff.
When Lola visits Moira, she tells Moira her story. After leaving town, Lola ran out of money. She met Bludgeon, who worked for a cruel madame; his job was to draw women in to be taken prisoner and forced into prostitution. Lola was kept in a locked room until agreeing to become a whore. She gained Madame’s trust while plotting with Bludgeon. Lola took Madame’s money, which allowed Lola and Bludgeon to travel. After meeting Jalloux, Lola used his money to open her own brothel.
Izreel Jackson, Booger’s father, runs a negro club called the Lollypop, which hosts Madame Hortense’s traveling troupe of entertainers. Bennie wows the crowd with his dancing. When the troupe leaves town, Bennie runs away with them.
Caleb meets Young Tom. They talk about Leah Smith and Carietta’s plan to use the girl to “educate” Charles. There is talk about the wild Lottie Temple, who dreams of being on the stage. On another topic, there is no suspicion by Hazel, Carietta, or Milly that the mysterious “repaid loans” and “rents” keeping them afloat come from Tom.
Lola explains to Jed why she has sympathy for Bludgeon. He sold himself to women, making enemies. Five men tortured and emasculated him. Crawling to the brothel, Madame was willing to let him die, but Lola nursed him back to health.