His Family

By Ernest Poole and Ernest 1880-1950 Poole

Book Overview

"His Family" is a profound exploration of generational change and the evolving social landscape of New York City during the early twentieth century. The narrative centers on Roger Gale, an aging widower and father of three daughters, who struggles to find meaning and continuity within his family and a rapidly transforming world.

As each daughter chooses a distinct path-ranging from traditional domestic life to modern social activism and artistic independence-Roger must reconcile his own values with the shifting morals of a new era. Winner of the inaugural Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, this work captures the intricate emotional ties that bind a family together while highlighting the inevitable friction between past and future. Through Gale's perspective, the story examines themes of legacy, responsibility, and the passage of time.

The novel serves as an insightful character study and a poignant reflection on the human desire to leave a lasting impact on the world. With its rich portrayal of urban life and intimate family drama, "His Family" remains a significant piece of American literary history that resonates with timeless truths about the complexities of fatherhood and the bonds of kinship.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you may see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.

This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.

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• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1025711025
• ISBN13: 9781025711027
• Release Date: February 2026
• Publisher: Tradd Street Press
• Length: 334 Pages
• Weight: 1.03 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.1" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

The Dawning of the 20th Century

This is the very first of the Pulitzer Prize winners for literature. It is a portrait of life as it looked to those at the dawn of the new century. Roger is a widower with three adult daughters, each representing a different cultural norm of the time. First there is Edith, the eldest. She lives apart from Roger with her husband and five children. She represents the traditional values of family living of the time. Next, is Deborah a woman dedicated to the poor and unfortunates of the time, a social crusader pretty much in the mold of Jane Addams, more interested in making the world a better place than getting married to her doctor suitor. Last, is Laura his youngest daughter who is to become a woman of the world in the style that those looking back would recognize as the flapper girls of the 1920s. The characters are richly portrayed which is the strength of this novel.

Lovely glimpse of the past

Poole's book tells the story of aging patriarch Roger Gale and the lives of his three daughters - Laura, with her reckless abandon and zest for life; Deborah, with her fierce devotion to the tenement schoolchildren she assists; and Edith, the mother of five whose entire world revolves around her children. Roger sees their lives change - some for the better, some worse - and how it affects his own life.This is a wonderful story which reminds me at times of E.L. Doctorow's Ragtime, in that it encompasses the scope of life in early twentieth century New York, and the lives of the people who inhabit it. The descriptions are vivid but never too cumbersome; the characters are all very real, and the plot flies by. By the end, I came to care about what happens to these people, and found I was sorry when it was over.