Alice Adams
By: Booth Tarkington ; illustrated by Arthur William Brown ; introduction by Donald Gray.
Series: Library of Indiana classics
Publisher: Indiana University Press
Published: 2003
Place of publication: Bloomington
Language: eng
Number of pages: 434
Subjects: Young women -- Fiction; Social classes -- Fiction; Middle class families -- Fiction; Indiana -- Fiction
Genres: Fiction.
Description: This is the story of a middle-class family living in the industrialized "midland country" at the turn of the 20th century. It is against this dingy backdrop that Alice Adams seeks to distinguish herself. She goes to a dance in a used dress, which her mother attempts to renew by changing the lining and adding some lace. She adorns herself not with orchids sent by the florist but with a bouquet of violets she has picked herself. Because her family cannot afford to equip her with the social props or "background" so needed to shine in society. Alice is forced to make do. Ultimately, her ambitions for making a successful marriage must be tempered by the realities of her situation. Alice Adams's resiliency of spirit makes her one of Tarkington's most compelling female characters. A Pulitzer Prize--winning novel that depicts the ambitions and delusions of a middle-class Midwestern family.