Classic
The Rise of Silas Lapham
by William Dean Howells
Summary
Self made Vermont paint manufacturer Silas Lapham moves his family into Boston society, builds an ostentatious new house, and confronts a business crisis that forces him to choose between his fortune and his integrity. Howells studies the collision of new money and old Boston manners with dry humor, and lets Lapham's moral rise coincide with his financial fall. The novel is the defining work of American realism's engagement with business and social ambition.
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Historical Context & Significance
Howells published the novel in 1885, at the height of his influence as editor and critic. It remains the classic American novel of the Gilded Age businessman.