Early Autumn: A Story of a Lady

by Louis Bromfield

Sabine Callendar had fled from the stifling propriety of Durham, New England twenty years ago. With a failed marriage behind her and an eighteen year old daughter to present to society, everyone is surprised to find that Sabine has returned, not as the pitiable and broken creature they expected, but as a strong and assured individual with an uncanny ability to see through the postures and pretenses of the society that oppressed her as a girl. With her bold independence and forthright nature, Sabine challenges the social order and becomes a catalyst for changes in the lives of the people around her.

Bromfield's startling depth of insight into the characters of this novel and his brilliant portrayal of the challenges to old New England society earned him national recognition. Bromfield was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Early Autumn.

Genres: Fiction, Classics, Literary Fiction, Literature, 20th Century, American, Historical Fiction

312 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1926

About the author

Louis Bromfield was an American author and conservationist who gained international recognition winning the Pulitzer Prize and pioneering innovative scientific farming concepts.

Bromfield studied agriculture at Cornell University from 1914 to 1916,[1] but transferred to Columbia University to study journalism. While at Columbia University, Louis Bromfield was initiated into the fraternal organization Phi Delta Theta. His time at Columbia would be short lived and he left after less than a year to go to war. After serving with the American Field Service in World War I and being awarded the Croix de Guerre and the Legion of Honor, he returned to New York City and found work as a reporter. In 1924, his first novel, The Green Bay Tree, won instant acclaim. He won the 1927 Pulitzer Prize for best novel for Early Autumn. All of his 30 books were best-sellers, and many, such as The Rains Came and Mrs. Parkington, were made into successful motion pictures.

photograph by: Carl Van Vechten

Reviews

[☕Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't think I had ever heard of this book or this author before I started my Pulitzer challenge, and I wonder why. It is my favorite Pulitzer winner to date. The writing and the story flowed effortlessly for me and I felt that in Olivia the author created a character who felt very real and timeless. I highlighted many passages and could relate to many of Olivia's thoughts and emotions despite the nearly 90 years which have elapsed since the writing of this book. I found it to be a truly brilliant work of literature.

[Albert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Published in 1926, this novel was a bestseller and won the Pulitzer Prize. It achieved this success despite a rather mundane title. And then there is the basic plot: you get to spend time with an extremely pretentious, wealthy but thrifty New England family and observe all the internal workings. Sounds like a real barn burner, huh? It is actually really, really good. I had a hard time remembering the title, even while reading the book, but I was excited to pick up the book whenever I had the opportunity.

The story opens with the spotlight on this dazzling character, Sabine, who has returned to Durham, an area outside Boston and home of her extended family, after a 20-year absence. Just as you start to think the story will focus on Sabine, you are introduced to Olivia, and you quickly realize you may have made a mistake about where to focus your attention. Olivia is a beautiful 39-year-old mother of two with a used teabag of a husband. She manages all the varying personalities that make up this family: her father-in-law, John Pentland, husband Anson, Aunt Cassie, mother-in-law Agnes, two children, Sybil and Jack, as well as a large household staff. She is intelligent, charming, caring and unpretentious. She has become partners with John Pentland, head of the family, while her husband, John Pentland’s son, gets an allowance. The primary purpose of the Pentland family is to preserve their image, which everyone seems to believe is unmarred in contradiction with the reality right in front of them: the family has its history and secrets.

This novel is filled with characters with depth that were easy for me to imagine. The conniving and manipulation that are going on, partially in the background, make the story quite rich. In fact, the whole thing was a bit unexpected for me; it felt very fresh for being published in 1926. There were a few plot twists that I found a bit unbelievable, but otherwise this was a delicious read that I thoroughly enjoyed.

[Loretta · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not really sure what to say about this Pulitzer Prize Winner. What I can say is that I really wonder how this book won the prize in the first place. By 100 pages I really wanted to stop reading the book all together but struggled on. First, there were too many characters, all who I didn't care about, at all. And secondly, to me, it seemed that there really wasn't much of story here. Not one that really kept my interest.

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book on my quest for a classic written by an author who lived in Ohio. After doing a bit of research, I came across Louis Bromfield. I learned he was born in Mansfield, Ohio, and that he wrote several books including this one a Pulitzer Prize winner! I'm happy to say that I found a gem in more ways than one: the book was fantastic and the author was quite enjoyable. I will definitely read more Bromfield.

So this book struck me as something that transcends its time. He won the Pulitzer Prize in 1927 for this book, and it was easy for me to see how this book was the winner. Bromfield focuses his story on a rich, Puritan New England family, the Pentlands. We get a glimpse into the Puritan world and the families daily lives.

I think what set this apart for me was the exploration of gender roles in relation to Puritan society. The reader is thrust into the struggle of Olivia who was in an unhappy marriage contrasted with the freedom of Sabine after the end of marriage she didn't want to end. It was fascinating to me as Bromfield explored their emotional feelings as these two very different women who each face their own challenges. I appreciated seeing Olivia displayed as the strong character whom was relied upon by the patriarch.

I enjoyed the simpleness of this book to focus on this snapshot into daily life: the emotions that any person could feel; the importance of one's place in society; finding love; the struggle of what to do in difficult predicaments; and battling preconceived notions of society and family.

I found the writing to be quite well done, and am looking forward to exploring more of Bromfield's writing. I'm glad to have discovered such a fantastic local author.

[Michael Finocchiaro · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the powerful story of the decline of an old Boston family told as the patriarch John slowly dies. His son is lost in writing the fabled family history ignoring his wife Olivia. Her cousin Sabine returns from Europe with her daughter Therese. The tension comes when Sabine starts manipulating the situation and things become unraveled. The writing is very good and the descriptions of the New England countryside are vivifying. The decline of this family is written in less comedic tones than The Magnificent Ambersons which won the Pulitzer 10 years earlier.
I enjoyed this one and did get caught up in the family drama, appreciating the varied characters and wondering as to their fates. A worthy book, but I may read a few others from this year to see if something was more deserving of the Pulitzer.

[Brian E Reynolds · Rating 5 out of 5]

This 1927 Pulitzer Prize winning novel is a superb study of a new-England aristocratic family trying to prosper in the 20th Century. It’s set just shortly after WWI and concerns the Pentland family who live the fictional north-of-Boston Massachusetts town of Dunham. The wealthy WASPish Pentlands are stalwarts of ’old society’ norms in the face of the incoming Irish and changing modern values The book’s themes involve the means, the wisdom and the value of the preservation of these societal norms, the Pentland family manor and the Pentland family itself.

There are three generations of Pentlands. The oldest generation consists of Patriarch John Pentland, his ‘mad’ invalid wife Agnes and his sister Cassie, a moralistic, snobby buttinsky. The next generation is John’s son and heir Anson and his non-WASPish wife Olivia. The youngest generation are Anson and Olivia’s debutante daughter Sybil and lifelong invalid son and heir Jack.

Ealy Autumn is subtitled “A Story of A Lady” and while the story involves the fate of the Pentland family, the book’s protagonist and heroine is Olivia Pentland, the non-Pentland-born member of the family. The book from her point of view and this focus on her character’s views and fate is what makes this story excel as a family saga.
Olivia is a marvelous heroine, intelligent, warm, aware and oh-so practical with attitudes and desires I could readily empathize with. She is no saint, just a well-rounded decent human. Bromfield does a marvelous job portraying and probing into Olivia’s thoughts and perceptions. And Bromfield gives these thoughts and perceptions a real workout in the book’s second half as family secrets and family desires surface and result in quite engaging events and scenes.

The story started slowly at first as Bromfield’s descriptive style felt a bit stilted and I was confused about why there was to much focus on Olivia. The back cover blurb of my edition talks exclusively about the character Sabine Callendar, so I naturally presumed she was to be the Lady in the book’s subtitle.* Sabine is a friend of both Olivia and the Pentland family but, while an important plot catalyst, plays a clearly secondary role.

But I soon adapted to Bromfield’s style and grew to really like it. I also grew to realize that this was Olvia’s story and that she was indeed the “Lady” of the subtitle. Then came the aforementioned second half events accompanied by Olivia’s perceptions and reactions, and I was hooked. The story’s revelations kept me quite engaged and my fondness for Olivia kept growing.

This started out as a borderline 4-star read, moved on to be a solid 4-star, and then on to a 4+ star read as I became more and more engaged. It was only the moment after I finished the book, that I first said to myself: “This is a 5-star book.”
I think I was reluctant to self-admit my true feelings toward the book as I’m a bit shamed by my fondness for stories about upper crust aristocratic families and their struggles with love and the preservation of their family lineage, prestige and estates. I don’t want to be a snob or elitist. But such books as Buddenbrooks, The Writing on the Wall trilogy, The Age of Innocence, and The Pallisers are some of my all-time favorites, with The Forsyte Saga likely being my all-time favorite reading experience. I also very much enjoyed the Rumer Godden novels, China Court and A Fugue in Time. All these stories deal with the romances and survival of an upper crust family. I guess I’m an elitist at heart but, like most of those stories, this book is 5-stars to me too.

*Please ignore the back cover blurb of The Wooster Book edition due to its misleading portrayal of Sabine. I’m usually reluctant to say anything bad about marketing people since my wife was a Marketing major, but if there was ever an appropriate B.S. Degree…

[Liz Whittaker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jacob picked this up from the library to read for himself, but I commandeered it for the weekend. It took me a while to get into. It was written in the late 1920s, which was a slightly more verbose time in literature, and it lacked the sharp and powerful imagery of Fitzgerald. But I was soon sucked in. It’s funny…the whole thing seemed very British/New England-ish. When I was halfway through the novel, I realized that there had only been two events that seemed to have any effect on the plot at all. But as I continued reading, more and more happened, and furthermore, “nothing happening” is central to the theme of the novel.

The book is about what happens when traditions become more important than people, when a family name (Pentland) means more than life itself. It’s also about what people are like when they don’t have to work for anything…when everything is given to them.

I think the book has its flaws, although I still think it was fantastic. The flaw(s) are discussed below in the spoiler bit. The dialogue was absolutely sparkling. I kept thinking that someone ought to make a movie of this book, if someone hasn’t already. It would lend itself brilliantly to film. The author, who for the most part, tells the story somewhat clinically from the 3rd person, also has moments of shiny wit: “ The third Pentland had been the greatest evangelist of his time, a man who went through New England holding high the torch, exhorting rude village audiences by the coarsest of language to such a pitch of excitement that old women died of apoplexy and young women gave birth to premature children.”

This would also be a great vehicle for discussing symbolism. At times I felt it was a bit heavy-handed, but I think that’s only because I was looking for it. There’s a dash of Dickens-esque naming too—the family name “Pentland” seems to literally mean “a land of imprisonment”…a place where one is permanently “pent up.”

I’d recommend this book if you were looking for something literary enough to give your English major heart a turn and simple enough to not be too challenging.

(Also, my writing style tends to mirror that of whatever I’ve been reading. Remember when I said that literature in the 1920s was verbose? Look how long this review is…)

***SPOILER ALERT***

I feel slightly as if Nora had stayed with Torvald after all (“A Doll’s House”). Part of me is satisfied that Olivia has found peace in the end, but it’s a peace which I’m not sure is genuine. It almost has the same feeling as the peace one might have from “finally loving Big Brother.” I’m still processing it, but it wasn’t quite the cathartic ending I was aching for. I feel a little ill at ease, having just put the book down. Like the orchestra was building to one final crescendo-ing note, and then just went silent. I’m not sure if that’s what the author is intending. I’ll keep processing.

[Bookslut · Rating 2 out of 5]

Yuck. There were a lot of good elements here, in the setting and the backstory, but once I knew Olivia would be sacrificed to endless Duty, I felt like it was pointless. And that happened pretty early in the book. The ending was weak, and the moral was dissatisfying and murky. Even the vocabulary was so limited, repetitive, and predictable. It seemed like a nondescript 1925 melodrama, and nothing that history can't easily leave behind.

[Tim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Louis Bromfield won the Pulitzer Prize for Early Autumn in 1927. The book is about a wealthy family in New England with a double life. It chronicles the struggle as in many families between the family which the world sees and the one which remains hidden. The story telling is great and is filled with secrets, infighting, deception and a keen focus on maintaining the family name at all cost. This book surprised me and I enjoyed it very much. I give it 5 stars.

[لونا · Rating 5 out of 5]

في كتابه "الإسلام بين الشرق والغرب" ذكر بيجوفيتش هذه الرواية. كانت بين العديد من الأمثلة الذي ذكرها في فصل ظاهرة الفن في محاولة لشرح فكرته عن التفريق بين خصوصية الفن وعمومية العلم فيما يتعلق بالإنسان. المشهد الذي اقتبسه من الرواية حفزني للبحث عنها ووجدت أنها رواية شبه منسية ووجدتها على موقع مؤسسة هندواي ولله الحمد. لا أخفيكم أني من محبي اكتشاف الروايات الغير متداوله كنوع من القراءة الحرة من شبح التوقعات وقفز في المجهول بكل حسناته وعيوبه ولو على صفحات كتاب، بالطبع أجمل نهاية لتلك المغامرة هي ما حدث هنا.0

لمن قد تلمس وتر حساس في نفسه هي رواية تمتص قارئها وتعزله عن محيطه وتدفعه بصراحة ليخلق ظروف لتلك العزلة. تفاجأت كثيرا لحساسية المؤلف في لمسه لخصوصية أوليفيا النفسية ولسان حالي يقول غريب أن الكاتب رجل وليس امرأة. أحب الروايات الحميمة والتي تبعت الدف من الداخل، تلك الروايات التي تستنفر الحواس بشدة كهذه الرواية. هي حكاية امرأة ترى أن خريف العمر قد جاء في وقت هي لا تشعر أنه مناسب. امرأة مثقله بالهموم ومسؤوليات لا يوجد أحد غيرها يقوم بها. امرأة تمتلك فرصة لإلقاء كل ذلك وراء ظهرها والبدء من جديد، فهل تفعل؟0

هل تراني بالغت؟ ربما، فلكل قراءة أجواء نفسية شخصية تؤثر على رد الفعل لما نقرأ ولربما كنت في الحالة المثالية للسقوط في هوى ما قرأت. أتمنى أن اتعثر بنسخة ورقية لهذه الرواية فهي كتبت لتقرأ بطريقة تقليدية. عن الترجمة: بديعة، بديعة جداً ومع ذلك أحببت العنوان (الخريف المبكر) الذي ذكرت به في كتاب "الإسلام بين الشرق والغرب" من ترجمة محمد عدس، هو أقرب لحالة الرواية.0

[Cititoare Calatoare · Rating 4 out of 5]

America la inceputul secolului xx, cand titlul si aparentele erau mai importante decat oamenii si tragediile lor.
Olivia Penthland ce face parte dintr-o familie de aristocrati din New England, duce o viata dubla. Avand un sot lipsit de sentimente si o familie puritana, balul de prezentare in societate a fiicei sale Sybil aduce o schimbare in viata ei searbada. Aici il intalneste pe Michael O'Hara si se indragosteste pasional de acesta.
Va renunta Olivia la minciunile si asuprirea socrilor ei sau familia si aparentele conteaza mai mult decat fericirea?
Finalul cam previzibil, dar este o poveste realista si o drama emotionanta.

[Elizabeth (Alaska) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I suspect happy people don't make especially good stories, and you ought not to expect many of them in this. Oh, there are a couple of them, but they try not to openly flaunt it. The others realize they gave up their shot at happiness when they were young, and married the wrong people for the wrong reasons. So they were stuck. Stuck because they believed and lived as if family and appearances count for a lot more than happiness.

The prose is interesting enough to tell the story without getting in the way of telling the story. I've read books where good prose made up for a less than great story, but not here. It's not necessarily a *great* story, but good enough. In the beginning, I was curious why the Pulitzer Committee thought it worthy of its prize. Do not be fooled - all those pages of laying a foundation makes the latter third very good reading.

Even so, the ending is a bit predictable. It's not the ending you want, but you sort of know its coming. The characterizations are good enough. If you're making your way through the Pulitzers, you'll be glad to have this one on the list. For me, just a good, solid 4 stars, but I'm glad not to have missed it.

[Anna Gabur · Rating 4 out of 5]

Normally I am not a fan of early 20th century novels because they are very melodramatic, full of pathos and not very relatable. This was not the case here. The writing was lean and pleasant, the plot, while dated, was not exactly cliche. I found myself invested in the lives of the Pentlands in a way that doesn't happen often. Good book.

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the story of Olivia Pentland, a woman caught in the conventions of her time–a loveless marriage in a proud and prominent old New England family. The blood in this family is running pretty thin, and Olivia is the glue that holds what is left together, but she is nearing forty and wants a life before it is too late.

Enter the exotic and rebellious cousin, Sabine Callendar, who returns to Durham after years of self-exile and stirs the waters. Olivia begins to have a sense of herself as someone other than a Pentland. There is a mystery from the past and how the knowledge of it might affect the family even four generations later. There is also a romance, a man who provides a huge contrast to the Pentlands, and a burning moral question.

Written in much the same world of the fading, teetering upper class as Wharton’s New York tales, I found elements that reminded me of her in both content, style and structure. I am a huge Wharton fan, so I was pleased to find another writer that could address this world with credibility and beautiful prose.

This book is part of my Pulitzer challenge, and I had not ever read anything by Louis Bromfield before. He wrote several books, however, and I suspect I will be seeking him out again.

[Louise Casals · Rating 4 out of 5]

Contrairement à ce que la quatrième de couverture laisse croire, il ne s'agit pas tant ici de la découverte macabre des secrets d'une famille prétendument respectable (même s'il y en a) que de l'histoire d'une femme à la croisée des chemins. Et c'est une belle histoire, toute en délicatesse et en mélancolie. L'intrigue prend son temps, il ne faut pas chercher ni les révélations, finalement très secondaires, ni les rebondissements : bien que l'intrigue soit indissociable d'une critique sociale assez acerbe, c'est surtout l'histoire d'une décision, des questionnements qui vont avec, du poids des convenances, de ce qu'on choisit et de ce qu'on subit. Ça m'a plu.

[Amélie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Early Autumn is beautifully written, with an almost lyrical quality. If I were to reread it, it would be solely for the exquisite craftsmanship of each scene and sentence. There’s something graceful about it, transforming an (almost) ordinary story into a work of art.

[Okenwillow · Rating 4 out of 5]

Prix Pulitzer 1927, Précoce automne est à peu près aussi guilleret qu’Ethan Frome, ma précédente lecture. Mais le souvenir d’avoir adoré Les nuits de Bombay il y a des années m’a poussée à redécouvrir Bromfield. Il n’y a pas que la rigolade dans la vie !
Olivia Pentland, presque quadragénaire et très bien conservée, est l’épouse esseulée d’Anson Pentland, héritier de la dynastie du même nom, et vit depuis vingt ans au sein d’une famille dans laquelle son intégration reste relative. Mère de deux enfants, elle nourrit plus d’espoir pour sa fille adolescente que pour elle-même, et tente de lui faire quitter ce milieu étriqué où tout le monde épouse son cousin et vit quasiment en vase clos.
L’histoire regorge de personnages étoffés et passionnants, la tante Cassie, vieille femme envahissante qui se plaît à se mêler de la vie des autres, tout en ayant renié son propre bonheur, le vieux Pentland, gardien fidèle et loyal d’une épouse à moitié folle et cachée aux yeux du « monde », le transparent et rigide Anson, dépourvu de personnalité, obsédé par l’histoire de sa famille, ou la flamboyante Sabine, rancunière, avide de vengeance et vilain petit canard de la famille.
Le retour de celle-ci, une cousine partie depuis vingt ans, sorte d’enfant prodigue rebelle et pleine de vie va bouleverser la terne existence d’Olivia, lui faisant entrevoir les possibilités d’une autre vie. Secrets de famille, traditions d’un autre âge, folie, hypocrisie, la bonne société américaine des années 20 est passée au peigne fin au travers du destin d’Olivia, résignée certes, mais encore assez jeune pour se permettre d’espérer autre chose pour sa fille, et peut-être pour elle-même.
Un beau roman, pas très optimiste, un peu violent par son fatalisme.

[Tamara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would like to give this book 4.5 stars because I liked it better than just really liking it. The atmosphere that Bromfield establishes is almost tangible and all the characters are interesting and intense, even the "dead, who only live through watching others." This book felt a little like Jane Eyre, Rebecca, and Wuthering Heights with the mysteries and secrets and passion and wildness, only I think it was better written than any of the others I listed. Not especially a happy ending, but inevitable and satisfactory, depending on your sense of romance and reality. I am going to have to get my own copy eventually because there are several passages I would like to mark and make notes, especially during a second reading when one already knows the outcome of the various intrigues and manipulations that go on throughout the book. I loved the language and storytelling in the book. It was humorous and a little tragic, and I really REALLY liked it.

[Kelly_Hunsaker_reads ... · Rating 2 out of 5]

Early Autumn won the Pulitzer Prize in 1927. It seems as though class struggles (especially those of the wealthy, or wealthy who have lost their money) were quite popular in the first decades of the 20th century, and I have not been a fan of many of them. Edith Wharton at least explores the theme with beautiful prose. Unfortunately Bromfield's story was not one I could connect to. The writing is lean, without much to set it apart from other books. The characters were distant, and uninteresting, though believable. And the plot is very quiet and slow paced, without being introspective enough.

Set in the early days of that century, the family maintain New England upper-class attitudes, despite the changes in culture and values. Unfortunately they often come off slightly cartoonish, and too stubborn to see and accept the new conventions.

[Bronwyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh I loved this. I stumbled upon Louis Bromfield while doing research for work (his farm in Ohio was where Bogart and Bacall got married, he was best man; his farm is a state park and was an early center of the conservation movement) and learned that he was also a novelist and even won a Pulitzer. This is his prize winning novel and it’s just so beautiful and sad and well done. It feels a lot like the mid-century British women’s novels I love, actually - a bit Elizabeth Taylor or Winifred Holtby or similar - but very American as well. The family ties and secrets and puritanism in the book is so well done. The tugging between what we want and what our duty is. I’m really glad I discovered this!

[Erika · Rating 2 out of 5]

Beautiful, kind Olivia Penfield lives a stifling existence with a soulless husband and his puritanical New England family. Unable to stand a life with no joy or even diversion, she starts an affair—although it’s pretty tame by today’s standards—with a wealthy up and coming politician and they fall passionately in love. Will Olivia leave the lies and oppression of her miserable in-laws, or will a sense of duty compel her to stay?
Early Autumn is only an OK book. The plot meanders along until reaching a very predictable ending, and unlike other novels that tread this familiar ground (Edith Wharton’s brilliant Age of Innocence comes to mind) the writing is often plodding and old fashioned. Also, for some reason, many descriptions and ideas are repeated numerous times, which slows down the action.
That said, there are some great passages and some of the characters, especially Olivia’s conflicted father-in-law are wonderfully well drawn.

[Susan O · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book, but I'm sure it's not for everyone. I found it on my Dad's bookshelf and knew nothing about the author or the book. I started reading it because I arrived at an appointment early and it was in the car, otherwise it might have been years before I picked it up. Turns out it was a Pulitzer prize winner for the novel.

The book is very introspective. Written in the 1920s and set in the early part of the century, it explores New England upper-class values and attitudes and how they are changing at the time. There is of course a story line, but it is not a book of actions, rather of thought. I found the characters interesting and believable, although few of them change and might be considered caricatures by some. The lives and characters of John and Olivia Pentlands were the most interesting to me and what made the book. I enjoyed it very much and would reread it, hence the 5 star rating.

[Lynn · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book won the Pulitzer Prize, but I can't see why. The characters are very flat, and it's too explicit that they just represent ideas. There is this old New England family, representing a conventional but hypocritical way of life. Everyone is unhappy, whether a martyr to tradition although she gets no pleasure from it, or a person who flouts tradition out of bitterness and gets no pleasure out of that. The only son and heir was sickly and died, barely even a metaphor for the idea that his aristocratic way of life has, duh, died out. The other young people escape, in the sense that the daughter elopes with her lover, a young man of no social standing. (Even the unconventionality in this book is conventional.)

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

I seldom rate books 5* and read “Early Autumn” as part of my quest to read all the Pulitzers. I didn’t expect to enjoy this one so much, as it started out slowly and the plot is somewhat dated. The novel was written in the 1920’s and the setting was rural New England in the early years of the 20th century. It’s the story of an extremely wealthy aristocratic family; the image they project to the community is at odds with the reality of their internal struggles, deceptions, and moral crises. I found the author’s use of language enchanting, the writing was brilliant. I highlighted many, many passages. The characters were well-drawn and the protagonist was a remarkable woman, trapped in an era of duty and stifling social norms.

[Tracy Towley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Early Autumn won the Pulitzer in 1926, and like many of the Pulitzer winners around this time, the focus was much more on the story than the storytelling. Unfortunately, the story being told was one that's been told a million times before. Woman marries into wealthy and prestigious family. Her husband is cold and indifferent. She falls in love with a lowly farmhand. They promise to run away together. Instead, they don't.

There are 4 similar books I can think of off hand that tell a similar story but are much more engaging.

[Grace · Rating 5 out of 5]

PULITZER PRIZE WINNER: 1927
===
4.5 rounded up

Another Pulitzer Prize winner that was super difficult to find, and I honestly really enjoyed it! The writing and sense of atmosphere here was just lovely, and I really fell into the story. Great characters, and just something about this one really worked for me.

[David · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book makes me hate books.

I guess people back then liked books where all kinds of extraneous details were shoved in for no good reason. This book should have been 20 pages long.

[George · Rating 4 out of 5]

An engaging character based novel about the rich, old Pentland family, who have been upright citizens for many years. Anson and Olivia have been married for twenty year having had no sexual relations for the last fifteen years. They have a daughter, Sybil, aged 18, and a son, Jack, aged 15, and quite sickly. Olivia married Anson when she was around 19 years old with Anson at the time being 30. Olivia’s father died when she was three. Her mother never remarried and died in Italy when Olivia was 17 years old. Anson was Olivia’s first man with whom she had a relationship. Anson is a reserved man who married to produce a heir. He did not marry for love. He married as it was expected of him. The Pentland’s are conservative Republicans. Olivia’s father had been a democratic politician out of Chicago.

Even though Anson is 50, his father John is still alive and controls the family’s finances. Anson recieves a regular income which isn’t large. Anson works in a number of charitable organizations. John’s wife is insane and is kept in a room in the large house, with a full time nurse.

When Michael O’Hara, aged 35, acquires a neighbouring property and starts going horse riding with Sybil, Anson becomes worried as O’Hara is an Irish politician who has a questionable background. O’Hara is actually a self made man who started with little, but now owns a property and has a bright future as a politician.

The main character in this novel is Olivia who at age 40, has to make some tough decisions that affect those around her.

A novel with well developed, interesting characters and good plot momentum. Highly recommended.

This book was the winner of the 1927 Pulitzer Prize for fiction.

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another amazing Pulitzer winner! People knew how to write back In the 20’s. I was absorbed in the character development, the plot shifts and looked forward daily to what was going to happen next. Not life changing, that is the reason for only 4 stars; but nevertheless a very intriguing book with thorough understanding of unhappy vs happy relationships.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

The winner of the 1927 Pulitzer Prize.