Edna Ferber’s 1921 novel traces the constrained lives of three generations of women. | ✍️ Dmitry Samarov
Charlotte Thrift is the eldest daughter of a businessman in mid-19th century Chicago. The city at that point isn’t much more than a rough-hewn settlement lacking even paved streets. Young Charlotte is rescued after falling into the Chicago River by a dashing but lower-class boy named Jesse Dick. Their courtship is a secret Charlotte keeps until Dick is conscripted to fight for the Union in 1862. Their public kiss as he departs for war is a scandal she will not live down for the rest of her days.
Charley—the third Charlotte—is Lottie’s niece, the daughter of her older sister, Belle. A free spirit, Charley is the envy of both her aunt and great-aunt. She scandalizes and thrills them with her nightlife tales. They live vicariously through her and believe desperately that she will not repeat their own sorry fate.
While the racial dynamics of the novel, especially between white and Black people, will make the contemporary reader wince, Ferber can’t be faulted for inaccuracy. Carrie’s complaints about Black people settling on her beloved south side in the early 20th century as part of the Great Migration would be echoed fifty years later during the white flight era. Any progress we’ve made in this city is dwarfed by the many ways we haven’t changed at all.
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