His Family

His Family by Ernest Poole (1916)

His Family by Ernest Poole delves into the life of Roger Gale as he reflects on his relationships with his daughters amidst the backdrop of a rapidly changing New York City. The narrative explores themes of love, loss, and the evolving dynamics of family as Roger confronts his emotional distance from his daughters, each representing different societal expectations and values.

By Ernest Poole · First published 1916 · Genre: Literary Fiction, Social Realism, Drama · 44 chapters · 120,929 words

First lines

He was thinking of the town he had known. Not of old New York -- he had heard of that from old, old men when he himself had still been young and had smiled at their garrulity. He was thinking of a young New York, the mighty throbbing city to which he had come long ago as a lad from the New Hampshire mountains. A place of turbulent thoroughfares, of shouting drivers, hurrying crowds, the crack of whips and the clatter of wheels; an uproarious, thrilling town of enterprise, adventure, youth; a city of pulsing energies, the center of a boundless land; a port of commerce with all the world, of stately ships with snowy sails; a fascinating pleasure town, with throngs of eager travellers hurrying from the ferry boats and rolling off in hansom cabs to the huge hotels on Madison Square. A city where American faces were still to be seen upon all its streets, a cleaner and a kindlier town, with more courtesy in its life, less of the vulgar scramble. A city of houses, separate homes, of quiet streets with rustling trees, with people on the doorsteps upon warm summer evenings and groups of youngsters singing as they came trooping by in the dark. A place of music and romance. At the old opera house downtown, on those dazzling evenings when as a boy he had ushered there for the sake of hearing the music, how the rich joy of being alive, of being young, of being loved, had shone out of women's eyes. Shimmering satins, dainty gloves and little jewelled slippers, shapely arms and shoulders, vivacious movements, nods and smiles, swift glances, ripples, bursts of laughter, an exciting hum of voices. Then silence, sudden darkness -- and music, and the curtain. The great wide curtain slowly rising.

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Family Drama · Social Realism · American Literature · Early 20th Century Fiction · Working Class Life · Immigrant Experience · Marriage and Relationships · Class Conflict · Poverty and Struggle · Urbanization · Industrialization · Social Commentary

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