The Rise of Silas Lapham was the first important novel to center on the American businessman and the first to treat its theme with a realism that foreshadowed the work of modern writers. In his story of one of the millionaire industrialists who flourished in the post-Civil War years, William Dean Howells probes the moral and social conflicts that confront a self-made man trying to crash Boston's old-guard aristocracy. Silas Lapham is a man of conscience who fully realizes his folly; but he is also an ambitious man who lets his aspirations lead him to risk both his fortune and his family's happiness for status in a society that will never truly accept him.

"His perceptions were sure, his integrity was absolute," wrote Henry Seidel Canby of William Dean Howells, whom he credited as being "responsible for giving the American novel form."

• We started tracking this book on June 28, 2015.
• This book was £4.92 when we started tracking it.
• The price of this book has changed 64 times in the past 3,218 days.
• The current price of this book is £2.99 last checked one day ago.
• The lowest price to date was £2.99 last reached on April 2, 2023.
• This book has been £2.99 one time since we started tracking it.
• The highest price to date was £6.99 last reached on October 1, 2018.
• This book has been £6.99 3 times since we started tracking it.
• This book is currently at its lowest price since we started tracking it.

• Literature & FictionHistory & Criticism

• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Lending: Disabled
• Print Length: 384 Pages
• File Size: 1,313 KB