The rise of Silas Lapham.

by

Published Nov. 9, 1885 by Ticknor.

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3 stars (1 review)

The Rise of Silas Lapham is a novel written by William Dean Howells in 1885 about the materialistic rise of Silas Lapham from rags to riches, and his ensuing moral susceptibility. Silas earns a fortune in the paint business, but he lacks social standards, which he tries to attain through his daughter's marriage to the aristocratic Corey family. Silas' morality does not fail him. He loses his money but makes the right moral decision when his partner proposes the unethical selling of the mills to English settlers.

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reviewed The rise of Silas Lapham by William Dean Howells (Penguin classics)

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3 stars

If you like Henry James you're probably going to find this book, which covers some of the same old money-new money tensions James does, very interesting; but to my surprise it was also extremely readable and sad and funny, and the characters very sympathetic. Howells seems to have as much sympathy for Lapham's struggles with society customs as he does for the old-money defensiveness that works against him.