13 h 47 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 13 h 47 minPaperback · 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.
Who will love it
You will enjoy this if you like comic novels about money and manners, sharp-tongued old men, warm family portraits, and love stories with a bite.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A Death Sends Three Generations Into Motion
- Peter Bines Knows How to Be Rich
- The West and the East Go to War
- A Girl in a Silver Mine
- Letters That Say More Than the Speakers Mean
- The Westerners Arrive in New York
- Spending, Suitors, and Uncle Peter's Visit
- A Fortune Is Meant to Be Used for Something
- Marrying for Money, or for Something Else
- A Comic Voice With a Sharp Edge
Who’s who
- Peter BinesA seventy-four-year-old prospector and millionaire who loves the mountains, tells tall tales, and hopes to make a worthy man of his grandson.
- Percival BinesPeter's young grandson, an easygoing Harvard graduate who longs for New York society and falls in love at first sight.
- Avice MilbreyA clever, witty New York girl raised to marry for money, who feels drawn to a different kind of life.
- Psyche BinesPercival's pretty sister, who wants a brilliant marriage and a place in society.
- Martha BinesTheir kindhearted, literal-minded mother, who goes along with her children and gives to every needy baby she meets.
- Billy BruePeter's friend and messenger, a horseman and gambler who is astonished by New York.
- Silas HigbeeA cheerful Chicago ham maker who made his own fortune and gives Percival plain advice.
- Rulon SheplerA powerful New York financier who admires Westerners and wants to marry Avice.
Formats and delivery
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- Audiobook
- Read by Lucas Linden, complete. It opens once the recording is online.
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- The key ideas in about 14 minutes, to read today.
- Paperback
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- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
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- Large print hardcover
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The Spenders: A Tale of the Third Generation
by Harry Leon Wilson · 1902
A Montana heir trades mountain air for New York parties, while his grandfather keeps a quiet watch.
Medium level10–20 hours to readEnglish
Excellent
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In short
What happens to a fortune when the man who found it has a grandson who only wants to spend it? That question drives The Spenders, a comic novel by Harry Leon Wilson, set in the early years of the twentieth century.
The Spenders: A Tale of the Third Generation at a glance
- Reading time
- About 7 h 55 min6 h 20 min fast, 9 h 30 min slow
- Length
- 113,600 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1902by Harry Leon Wilson
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A Death Sends Three Generations Into Motion
The story begins with a telegram that nobody knows where to send. Toler, the secretary of Daniel J. Bines, must find two men. One is the old father, Peter, prospecting in one of four states. The other is the young son, Percival, somewhere on the Atlantic coast.
Peter is the pioneer, a man of the covered-wagon years. Daniel was the organizer who turned ore, timber, cattle, and grain into money. Percival has his grandfather's restlessness and a taste for refinement that neither of them ever had.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 14 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1902
- Language
- English
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Wilson, Harry Leon. The Spenders: A Tale of the Third Generation. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-spenders-a-tale-of-the-third-generation.
Wilson, H. L. (2026). The spenders: A tale of the third generation. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-spenders-a-tale-of-the-third-generation (Original work published 1902)
Wilson, Harry Leon. The Spenders: A Tale of the Third Generation. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-spenders-a-tale-of-the-third-generation.
@book{wilson2026spenders,
author = {Wilson, Harry Leon},
title = {The Spenders: A Tale of the Third Generation},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-spenders-a-tale-of-the-third-generation},
note = {First published 1902}
}
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What is The Spenders about?
It follows the Bines family of Montana, whose old prospector grandfather and rich young grandson clash over whether to live in the West or in New York society, while the grandson falls for a clever New York girl.
Who is Uncle Peter Bines?
Peter Bines is the grandfather, a veteran prospector who struck silver and became a millionaire. He still wanders the mountains every summer and uses stories and jokes to guide his grandson.
What does the book say about the third generation?
It follows a fortune discovered by a pioneer, expanded by his industrious son, and inherited by a pleasure-seeking grandson, and asks what a young heir does when he has no need to work.
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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