The Magnificient Ambersons by Booth Tarkington. Winner of the 1919 Pulitzer Prize for Literature. An engaging book, despite at several points wanting it to move along faster. The first half of the book is well constructed, and interesting because the central character is not presented as a likable fellow. Foreshadowing and hiding of the mother’s relationship with Morgan is transparent and yet it isn’t clear how intended this was. The climax of the book is understandable on a human level, but was probably more compelling to readers in 1918. The last part of the book– destruction of the family, chemical worker, run over by a car, psychic– all seem too much for believeability today.
Also, the book is a bit melodramatic, the tragedies a bit too constructed. But I did enjoy it. I see why it won the Pulitzer: it is an American story. This could take place in almost any American city of the period; I seemed to reference St. Louis but it could have been in a dozen different places.
The romance between Georgie and Lucy seemed real, probably the most real part of the book.