"Instead of the Thorn: A Novel" by Clara Louise Burnham is a story that begins in 1916 among Chicago's high society, focusing on people like Linda Barry, a strong-willed young woman, her family, and their circle of friends and it explores the web of their relationships, dreams, and the unwritten rules of their world. The story takes off at a dinner party at the South Shore Club, hosted by Mr. and Mrs. Radcliffe for their friends, the Lindsays, where the beautiful Lake Michigan sets the stage for conversations that reveal their lives and social status, and Linda's character is further shown through how she interacts with her parents, potential love interests like Bertram King, who clearly wants more than friendship, as she shows her independent spirit and challenges to traditional roles. The early parts of the book suggest ideas about social class, what people want out of life, and how family affects the decisions they make.
Instead of the Thorn: A Novel
By Clara Louise Burnham
In a world of social expectations and personal desires set against the backdrop of early 20th-century Chicago, a young woman navigates love, family, and the constraints of her high-society life.
Summary
About the AuthorClara Louise Burnham was an American novelist. After the success of No Gentlemen (1881), other books followed, including A Sane Lunatic (1882), Dearly Bought (1884), Next Door (1886), Young Maids and Old (1888), The Mistress of Beech Knoll (1890), and Miss Bagg's Secretary (1892). The daughter of George Frederick Root, she wrote the text for several his most successful cantatas. The 1923 film, A Chapter in Her Life is based on Burnham's 1903 novel Jewel: A Chapter in Her Life. Born in Massachusetts, she died at the family home in Maine in 1927.
Clara Louise Burnham was an American novelist. After the success of No Gentlemen (1881), other books followed, including A Sane Lunatic (1882), Dearly Bought (1884), Next Door (1886), Young Maids and Old (1888), The Mistress of Beech Knoll (1890), and Miss Bagg's Secretary (1892). The daughter of George Frederick Root, she wrote the text for several his most successful cantatas. The 1923 film, A Chapter in Her Life is based on Burnham's 1903 novel Jewel: A Chapter in Her Life. Born in Massachusetts, she died at the family home in Maine in 1927.
More Like This
Explore books similar to the one you're viewing
More by This Author
Discover other books written by the same author
Related by Category
Discover books in the same genre or category
The Old Card
By Roland Pertwee
The Big Idea
By Ray Cummings
Port Argent: A Novel
By Arthur Colton
Unto This Last, and Other Essays on Political Economy
By John Ruskin
Notes on the Iroquois or, Contributions to the Statistics, Aboriginal History, Antiquities and General Ethnology of Western New-York
By Henry Rowe Schoolcraft
Queen Moo's Talisman: The Fall of the Maya Empire
By Alice D. (Alice Dixon) Le Plongeon