Alice Adams

Alice Adams, novel by Booth Tarkington, published in 1921. The story of the disintegration of a lower-middle-class family in a small Midwestern town, Alice Adams was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for best novel in 1922.

A social climber, the title character is ashamed of her unsuccessful family. Hoping to attract a wealthy husband, she lies about her background, but she is found out and is shunned by those whom she sought to attract. At the novel’s end, she knows her chances for happiness and a successful marriage are bleak, but she remains unbowed.