In The Onyx Lobby by Carolyn Wells

Name: In The Onyx Lobby
Author: Carolyn Wells

In a prestigious New York apartment building, two women, Miss Letitia Prall and Mrs. Everett, engage in a long-standing feud that has persisted for over twenty years. Their rivalry, marked by subtle hostilities and social maneuvering, reflects their strong personalities and stubbornness. Sir Herbert Binney, an Englishman and the new resident, is in America to establish a branch of his family's bakery, "Binney's Buns." He hopes to involve his ambitious nephew, Richard Bates, in the business. However, Richard, an inventor with dreams of aeronautics, resists his uncle's plans, leading to tension between them. Miss Prall, fiercely protective of her nephew, disapproves of the bun business, believing it distracts him from his true potential. The narrative explores themes of ambition, familial loyalty, and the absurdity of social rivalries, as the characters navigate their relationships and aspirations. The setting, a once-grand apartment building, serves as a backdrop for the unfolding drama, highlighting the contrast between past prestige and present struggles. As the feud continues and business pressures mount, the characters must confront their desires and the consequences of their choices, leading to a potential reckoning in their intertwined lives.

By Carolyn Wells · First published 1920 · Genre: Mystery, Crime, Detective Fiction · 18 chapters · 82,122 words

First lines

"Well, by the Great Catamaran! I think it's the most footle business I ever heard of! A regulation, clinker-built, angle-iron, sunk-hinge family feud, carried on by two women! Women! conducting a feud! They might as well conduct a bakery!"

"I daresay they could do even that! Women have been known to bake -- with a fair degree of success!"

What this Textopian page supports

In The Onyx Lobby is listed on Textopian as a novel by Carolyn Wells, dated 1920 CE.

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Work type: Novel
Author: Carolyn Wells
Date: 1920 CE
Language: English
Genres: Mystery, Crime, Detective Fiction
Length: 82,122 words
Structure: 18 chapters, 2,376 paragraphs
Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)

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Similar titles

Genres

Mystery — The plot involves unraveling a murder mystery, a common characteristic in the mystery genre
Crime — The story involves a crime (murder) as its central theme.
Detective Fiction — The protagonist is a detective tasked with solving a crime, a characteristic of the detective fiction genre.