The quality of life for the typical laborer and his family at the turn of the 20th Century was filled with hardship and strife. The story of the disintegration of a lower-middle-class family in a small Midwestern town, Alice Adams was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for best novel in 1922. He also reveals a desperation in those trying to climb the ladder to acceptance.

Alice Adams is a 1935 romantic drama film directed by George Stevens and starring Katharine Hepburn. He has some kind of stroke and is taken home by his boss. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). I find that anytime I am reading a novel by an author I have never previously read I begin reading about the author partway through the novel. At any rate, this was a terribly irritating re. At one point Alice Adams laments, "But why had it been her instinct to show him an Alice Adams who didn't exist? Why did it take me so long to read this book? But later on “She breathed more rapidly but knew that he could not have detected it, and she took some pride in herself for the way she had met this little crisis. The Adamses had built it, moving into it from the “Queen Anne” house they had rented until they took this step in fashion. A fascinating story that won the Pulitzer Prize. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. . The industrial boom that followed WWI brought economic growth but left some behind, especially those whose skills did not match the needs of the growth industries. Mrs. Adams had remained in Alice's room, but her mood seemed to have changed, during her daughter's little more than momentary absence. The sound was eloquently audible, though Mrs. Dowling remained unaware that in this or any manner whatever she had shed a light upon her thoughts; for it was her lifelong innocent conviction that other people saw her only as she wished to be seen, and heard from her only what she intended to be heard. Alice is trying to climb the social ranks in her town but is finding herself reject and rebuffed. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree.... of Booth Tarkington’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. The former novel was more fun to read because the narrator was deeply ironic and, therefore, very funny. She turned north, treading the new little shadows on the pavement briskly, and, having finished buttoning her gloves, swung down her Malacca stick from under her arm to let it tap a more leisurely accompaniment to her quick, short step. Her mother is a disagreeable creature and her father doesn’t seem to understand the ramifications or difficulties of the position Alice is in. The grime was perpetually renewed; scrubbing only ground it in.” is also the soot of wealth. It was a pleasant and impressive place to be seen entering, but Alice did not enter at once. She had seen in several magazines pictures of ladies with canes, and on that account she had bought this one, never questioning that fashion is recognized, even in the provinces, as soon as beheld. She replenished the card-case from the “Miss Adams” box; then, having found a pair of fresh white gloves, she tucked an ivory-topped Malacca walking-stick under her arm and set forth. Ultimately, her ambitions are tempered by the realities of her situation, which she learns to accept with grace and style. The small frame house, about fifteen years old, was already inclining to become a new Colonial relic. So maybe 3.5 stars but rounded up because of the plot rather than the writing or the characters. Well, it's hard to say with this one. She put on a little apple-green turban with a dim gold band round it, and then, having shrouded the turban in a white veil, which she kept pushed up above her forehead, she got herself into a tan coat of soft cloth fashioned with rakish severity. The novel follows the Adams family as they hatch a scheme to elevate themselves into the upper echelons of local society and as one would imagine it fails spectacularly. However I also found it interesting that Tarkington did not vilify the rich (a theme which captivated Fitzgerald), nor did he sanctify the poor. After that, having studied herself gravely in a long glass, she took from one of the drawers of her dressing-table a black leather card-case cornered in silver filigree, but found it empty. I hated the movie with the burning passion of 999 burning suns. Few things are more annoying to me than people who pretend to be something they are not, lying through their teeth, superficial, silly creatures. Alice Adams is more serious in tone and reading it was like watching a slow moving train wreck. She tucked it under her arm, not swinging it again; and her breath became quick and irregular as emotion beset her. Well, it's hard to say with this one. The screenplay was by Dorothy Yost, Mortimer Offner, and Jane Murfin. One dictionary definition of a tragedy states that the main character, usually a person of importance and outstanding personal qualities, falls to disaster through the combination of a personal failing and circumstances with which he or she cannot deal. Alice Adams reads as a morality tale, emphasizing that when the character's deeds are less than honest they will be punished ten fold for their efforts. For she found that what she had resolved in her inmost heart was now really true: she was "through with all that!”, When I started listening to this book, my mother was alive and by the time I finished the book my mother had died. Alice looked serious for a few moments after the little encounter, then found some consolation in the behaviour of a gentleman of forty or so who was coming toward her. Very remarkable book.