9 h 53 minAudiobook7 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 9 h 53 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What does it cost to belong when every invitation depends on money you do not have?
Alice Adams is bright, charming, and poor in a growing Midwestern city where wealth decides who belongs. At the Palmers’ dance, she faces the ease and confidence she envies in Mildred Palmer. When Arthur Russell begins to call, Alice sees a chance to enter the world she wants—and feels the pressure to pretend.
At home, her mother presses for a better life while her father, Virgil, struggles under small pay and family demands. Her younger brother, Walter, adds worries Alice would rather hide. Booth Tarkington keeps her charm and her faults in view, turning social comedy into a tender, painful study of ambition and the need for acceptance.
What you’ll discover
- Charm under pressure Meet a young woman whose wish to fit in makes every visit a performance.
- A dance full of longing Step into the Palmers’ world, where Mildred’s easy confidence sharpens Alice’s sense of exclusion.
- A family pulled apart See how Mrs. Adams’s hopes press against Virgil’s loyalty, weariness, and modest pay.
- The rules of belonging Explore a town where wealth shapes welcome, and money alone does not explain class.
- Laughter with a painful edge Find social comedy that grows tender as Alice’s pretending weighs on those she loves.
Who will love it
For readers who love character studies, social comedy and old American towns, and anyone who has ever felt out of place at a party.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A girl who wants more than she has
- One dance that changes her hopes
- Pretending to be someone richer
- A mother's push and a father's wound
- What the story says about class and belonging
- How Tarkington tells it
Who’s who
- Alice AdamsA charming, quick young woman who longs to belong to the town's wealthy circle and pretends to be richer than she is.
- Virgil AdamsAlice's quiet father, a loyal clerk at a wholesale drug firm, worn down by years of small pay and by his wife's demands.
- Mrs. AdamsAlice's anxious, outspoken mother, who is tired of being poor and presses her husband to take a bold step for the family.
- Walter AdamsAlice's restless younger brother, who keeps company Alice would rather not explain and gives the family constant worry.
- Arthur RussellA kind, serious young man of good family who meets Alice at a dance and begins to call on her.
- Mildred PalmerA wealthy, self-assured young woman of the town's leading set, whom Alice envies and sees as her rival.
- J. A. LambThe successful wholesale druggist who employs Virgil Adams and holds a large place in the family's fortunes.
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Alice Adams
by Booth Tarkington · 1921
A young woman pretends to be rich to enter her town's wealthy circle.
Medium level5–10 hours to readDeutsch
Pulitzer Prize for the Novel, 1922
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In short
Alice Adams is a novel by Booth Tarkington, published in 1921 and awarded the Pulitzer Prize for the novel the next year. Tarkington was an Indiana writer who knew the Midwestern towns he wrote about, and he set this book in one of them, a growing city where money decides who is invited to what.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A girl who wants more than she has
Alice Adams lives there with her mother, her father Virgil and her younger brother Walter. Their house is modest and the family has little money. The wealthy families of the town live in grander houses and give grander parties.
Alice has charm, quick wit and a strong wish to be admired. She has learned that in her town, being liked is not enough. You need money, a good address and a family people respect. She lacks the wealth and social standing of her friends, so she tries to make up the difference with manner, with talk and with small acts of show.
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- 15-minute summary
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Details
- First published
- 1921
- Language
- Deutsch
- Reading time
- 6 h 25 min
- Level
- Medium level
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What is Alice Adams about?
It is about a young woman in a Midwestern town who wants to belong to the wealthy set and pretends to be richer than her family is. The book follows what that pretending costs her and those she loves.
When was Alice Adams written and did it win a prize?
Booth Tarkington published it in 1921, and it won the Pulitzer Prize for the novel in 1922. It is fiction, but it draws on the real social life of Midwestern towns in the early twentieth century.
Who is Arthur Russell in Alice Adams?
Arthur Russell is a pleasant, serious young man of good family whom Alice meets at a dance. He begins to call on her, and his interest gives her hope of winning a place among the wealthy.
The author
Booth Tarkington
1869–1946 · American novelist
Booth Tarkington was an American novelist born in Indianapolis, Indiana, in 1869. He lived in Indianapolis and spent summers in Kennebunkport, Maine. He wrote Penrod (1914), Seventeen (1916), The Magnificent Ambersons (1918), and Alice Adams (1921). He also wrote plays. He died in Indianapolis in 1946.
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