The Magnificent Ambersons

by Booth Tarkington

First published 2014

George Amberson Minafer grows up believing he owns the world. His family rules Indianapolis society at the turn of the century, and his doting mother Isabel ensures he never doubts his superiority. When George meets Lucy Morgan, a sharp young debutante, he expects her to fall at his feet like everyone else. But Lucy sees through his arrogance, and her father Eugene represents everything George despises: new money built on industry rather than breeding. George discovers his widowed mother has feelings for Eugene, a man from her past, and he cannot tolerate this threat to his vision of Amberson supremacy. As automobiles replace carriages and factories reshape the city, George wages war against the changing world. He sabotages his mother's happiness and destroys his own chance with Lucy. The Ambersons' wealth crumbles while the Morgans prosper. George must learn whether being born to privilege matters more than earning your place in a world that no longer cares about old names.

Genres: american-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, family-drama

Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking

Tropes: fish-out-of-water, unreliable-narrator

Setting: Indianapolis

Period: Turn of the Century

234 pages · Paperback · CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform

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