13 h 47 minAudiobook4 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What happens when a fortune built by hard hands reaches heirs who have never had to earn a cent?
In The Spenders: A Tale of the Third Generation, Harry Leon Wilson turns inherited wealth into a family comedy. The first generation makes the money, the second keeps it, and the third spends it. Now ambition, love and appetite test what that fortune means to the people who hold it.
Set at the turn of the twentieth century, the novel explores new money and the world of society. Wealth can buy a house, a carriage and a name in the papers. But affection and fortune do not always pull together. Wilson brings a sharp eye and a light touch to the strain between them.
What you’ll discover
- Three generations of wealth Follow the divide between the hard work of making money and the appetite for spending it.
- New money in society Explore a world where growing fortunes meet old habits and social ambition.
- Courtship under pressure Discover how love tests people when affection and financial interests point in different directions.
- Comedy with a gentle edge Enjoy Wilson’s gentle jabs at American appetite, with feeling beneath the humor.
- An inheritance worth questioning Consider what a family passes down beyond the money its heirs receive.
Is it for you?
This book suits readers who like American fiction of the early 1900s, social comedy, and stories about new money and old habits. If you want fast plotting or modern prose, you may find its pace and manner dated.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Fortunes change each generation differently
- New money meets the world of society
- Love and money pull in different ways
- A humorist looks at American appetite
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The Spenders: A Tale of the Third Generation
by Harry Leon Wilson· 1902
A family's heirs spend a fortune they did not earn.
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Language: English
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1 of 4
Fortunes change each generation differently
The title phrase, the third generation, points to an old saying about family wealth. The first generation makes the money, the second keeps it, and the third spends it. Wilson builds his novel on this idea and asks what happens to a family when work gives way to ease.
The story begins from a simple fact. The people who earned the money and the people who now enjoy it are not the same, and they do not see money in the same way. For the earners, every dollar was once a hard fight. For the heirs, money is simply the air they breathe.
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The author
Harry Leon Wilson
1867–1939 · American novelist
Harry Leon Wilson (1867–1939) was an American novelist. He was born in Oregon, Illinois, and later lived in California. His novels include The Spenders (1902), Ruggles of Red Gap (1915), and Merton of the Movies (1922). He died in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, in 1939.
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What is The Spenders by Harry Leon Wilson about?
It is a novel about family wealth and what it does across generations. Wilson looks at heirs who spend what others earned, and at the manners, loves and mistakes that follow, with a mix of comedy and sympathy.
What does the third generation mean in the title?
It refers to the old saying that the first generation makes a fortune, the second keeps it, and the third spends it. The novel is built on that idea and the habits it describes.
When was The Spenders written?
It was published in 1902, during a time of rapid growth in American fortunes. It is a work of fiction, not a true story, though it reflects real social attitudes toward money in that period.
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