The Rise of Silas Lapham
Silas Lapham made his money in mineral paint and now wants something money cannot buy: a place among Boston’s old families. William Dean Howells published this landmark of American realism in 1885, tracing how a blunt, self-made manufacturer handles sudden wealth and the social climbing it invites. A courtship between his daughter and the son of a patrician family draws the two worlds together, while a risky business decision forces Lapham toward a choice between ruin and dishonesty. The title carries Howells’s irony, since Silas truly rises only as his fortune falls. Written in plain, observant prose, it remains one of the finest portraits of Gilded Age ambition and conscience. Read it here as a free PDF and EPUB edition.
About the Author
William Dean Howells (1837 to 1920) was one of the most influential American men of letters of his era, an editor, critic, and prolific novelist. He championed literary realism, supported writers like Mark Twain, and used his own fiction to examine money, class, and conscience…
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