William Dean Howells : Novels 1875-1886: A Foregone Conclusion, A Modern Instance, Indian Summer, The Rise of Silas Lapham (Library of America)

Four novels by America's most influential man of letters at the turn of the century, which explore the conflicts of private life and social institutions with unflinching realismn. Contains "A Foregone Conclusion" and "Indian Summer," dramas of complex romantic entanglements set in Italy, "A Modern Instance," the first full-scale study of infidelity and divorce in American fiction, and "The Rise of Silas Lapham," a brilliantly skeptical portrait of American business and new money. A foregone conclusion relates the love story of Florida Vervain, a young girl sojourning in Venice with her mother, an amiable, weak-headed woman, of the type so frequently drawn by the author. The daughter is beloved by the United States consul, a Mr. Ferris, and by Don Ippopolito, a priest. The latter is a strongly drawn, interesting study. He is a man whom circumstances rather than inclination led into the priesthood. From the hour of his ordination he finds the holy office an obstacle to his normal development. He has the genius of the inventor; has spent years in perfecting impossible models. Florida Vervain becomes his pupil in Italian. Her young enthusiasm leads her to believe that if Don Ippolito were only in America his inventions would receive fruitful recognition. She proposes that he accompany her and her mother to Providence. He, in the first joy of the prospect, declares his love for her. She is horror-stricken because "he is a priest"; and her refusal of him eventually brings about his death. These events open the eyes of Ferris, whose jealousy of the poor priest had led him into a sullen attitude towards the woman he loved The four novels collected in this Library of America volume are among the classic works from the immensely productive career of Americas most influential man of letters at the turn of the twentieth century. William Dean Howells was a champion of French and Russian realistic writers and a brilliant advocate of the most controversial American writers of his own time. A close friend of Mark Twain and Henry James, he defended them against the attacks of their more genteel and nationalistic compatriots, and he was also sympathetic to the realistic starkness and radicalism of younger writers like Frank Norris and Stephen Crane. Howellss own realism elaborates what he called a merciful distrust of our own judgements. This distrust, in part a recognition of the degree to which social institutions intrude upon and shape our private lives, informs both the subjects of his novels and the way they are written. Howells is always more deferential than didactic, and the difficulties of human relationships are intentionally left unresolved. One of the most charming and memorable romantic comedies in American literature, William Dean Howells's Indian Summer tells of a season in the life of Theodore Colville. Colville, just turned forty, has spent years as a successful midwestern newspaper publisher. Now he sells his business and heads for Italy, where as a young man he had dreamed of a career as an architect and fallen hopelessly in love. In Florence, Colville runs into Lina Bowen, sometime best friend of the woman who jilted him and the vivacious survivor of an unhappy marriage. He also meets her young visitor to her, twenty-year-old Imogene Graham -- lovely, earnest to a fault, and brimming with the excitement of her first encounter with the great world The Rise of Silas Lapham is a realist novel by William Dean Howells published in 1885. The story follows 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 into 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 The Library Of America Is Dedicated To Publishing America's Best And Most Significant Writing In Handsome, Enduring Volumes, Featuring Authoritative Texts. Hailed As The Finest-looking, Longest-lasting Editions Ever Made (the New Republic), Library Of America Volumes Make A Fine Gift For Any Occasion. Now, With Exactly One Hundred Volumes To Choose From There Is A Perfect Gift For Everyone. A Foregone Conclusion -- A Modern Instance -- Indian Summer -- The Rise Of Silas Lapham. A modern instance is a realistic novel written by William Dean Howells, and published in 1882 by J. R. Osgood & Co. The novel is about the deterioration of a once loving marriage under the influence of capitalistic greed