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Audiobook edition · 5 h 24 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if fear is not a warning, but a weapon in the hands of Wall Street?
In Friday, the Thirteenth, Thomas William Lawson enters a world of brokers, bankers, and speculators where confidence keeps money moving. Prices rise when people feel safe and fall when fear takes hold. A rumor can wield enormous power, and revenge carries a cost for the person who seeks it.
Lawson knows the market from within as a Boston stock promoter and a fierce critic of Wall Street insiders. His novel turns that anger into a story of panic and power. Superstition gives the title its dark mood, while the struggle over money raises questions about belief, control, and the price of revenge.
What you’ll discover
- Fear as a weapon Enter a market where shaken confidence can turn private anxiety into a powerful force.
- An insider's angry eye See Wall Street through a stock promoter who turns against its powerful insiders.
- The cost of revenge Consider what the pursuit of revenge demands from the person determined to claim it.
- Money meets superstition Feel the dark mood as an unlucky date brings irrational fear into the world of finance.
- Fiction with a purpose Explore how a reform-minded writer uses a market thriller to make his case.
Who will love it
You will enjoy this if you like fast stories of money and power, friendship tested by fate, and a close look at how a stock exchange floor works.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A market panic opens the story
- Friendship meets a taste for gambling
- Beulah brings a debt of honor
- Sugar exposes the power of insiders
- Love deepens the pressure to act
- A winning trade raises moral questions
- The market runs on loaded dice
- Conscience stands against the revenge impulse
- Financial battles carry a human cost
Who’s who
- Jim RandolphThe cautious head of the old banking house of Randolph and Randolph, who tells the story and would do anything for his friend Bob.
- Bob BrownleyA proud Virginian and the best broker on the floor, who sets out to win back a ruined family's fortune and ends up at war with Wall Street.
- Beulah SandsA gifted young Virginian who comes North with sixty thousand dollars to save her father, and who holds fast to a code of fair play.
- Judge Lee SandsBeulah's father, a respected Virginia judge and trustee, who is ruined when his railroad is taken from him and trust funds are lost.
- Barry ConantThe small, calm head broker for Camemeyer and Standard Oil, who can break a price with a single word, Sold.
- Tom ReinhartA powerful financier who wrecks the Seaboard Air Line and later builds the vast Anti-People's Trust.
- Fred BrownleyBob's younger brother, a loyal floor man at the firm, who calls Jim for help when Bob goes on the warpath.
- Katherine RandolphJim's warm and steady wife, to whom Bob confesses his love for Beulah.
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Friday, the Thirteenth
by Thomas William Lawson · 1907
A broker on Wall Street sells until banks fail, and only his oldest friend can try to stop him.
Medium level2–5 hours to read2 languages
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In short
On Friday the thirteenth, Jim Randolph sits in his office as the ticker tape signals a market panic. His floor man, Fred Brownley, calls from the Stock Exchange.
Friday, the Thirteenth at a glance
- Reading time
- About 3 h 10 min2 h 30 min fast, 3 h 45 min slow
- Length
- 44,700 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1907by Thomas William Lawson
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
Two old friends carry two kinds of fortune
Jim Randolph tells the story, and he starts with what he is. He leads Randolph and Randolph, a banking house more than sixty years old. Its money was never lent above the legal rate of six percent, and it has never taken part in frenzied finance.
Bob Brownley is the friend who matters most to him. They spent four years together at St. Paul's school and four more at Harvard. Jim's family had money and Northern caution. Bob came from Richmond, Virginia, with a proud name and no money at all. His father left a widow, three daughters and a small son to depend on Bob.
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- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 14 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1907
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 3 h 30 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Lawson, Thomas William. Friday, the Thirteenth. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/friday-the-thirteenth.
Lawson, T. W. (2026). Friday, the thirteenth. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/friday-the-thirteenth (Original work published 1907)
Lawson, Thomas William. Friday, the Thirteenth. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/friday-the-thirteenth.
@book{lawson2026friday,
author = {Lawson, Thomas William},
title = {Friday, the Thirteenth},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/friday-the-thirteenth},
note = {First published 1907}
}
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What is Friday, the Thirteenth about?
It follows Bob Brownley, a Virginia-born broker, and his friend Jim Randolph. Bob tries to save a ruined family and then wages war on Wall Street, causing a huge panic on Friday the thirteenth.
Who is Beulah Sands in Friday, the Thirteenth?
Beulah is the young daughter of Judge Lee Sands of Virginia. She comes to New York with sixty thousand dollars and a plan to win back her father's lost fortune, and she wins Bob's heart.
What does the System mean in the book?
The System is the name Bob gives to the powerful group of financiers and banks, including Standard Oil, who control the market and the news, and who profit as the public loses.
The author
Thomas William Lawson
1857–1925 · American financier and writer
Thomas William Lawson (1857–1925) was an American writer and financier. He was born in Charlestown, Massachusetts, and worked in Boston. He wrote about finance and the stock market. His books include Frenzied Finance, published in 1905, and the novel Friday, the Thirteenth, published in 1907. He also lived in Scituate, Massachusetts.
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