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The Magnificent Ambersons

by Booth Tarkington

Cover of The Magnificent Ambersons
Popularity 23

Major Amberson had "made a fortune" in 1878, when other people were losing fortunes, and the magnificence of the Ambersons began then. Magnificence, like the size of a fortune, is always comparative, as even Magnificent Lorenzo may now perceive, if he has happened to haunt New York in 1916; and the Ambersons were magnificent in their day and place. Their splendour lasted throughout all the years that saw their Midland town spread and darken into a city, but reached its topmost during the period when every prosperous family with children kept a Newfoundland dog.

FictionChildren of the rich in fictionMothers and sonsSocial changeInheritance and succession in fictionMothers and sons in fictionLoss (Psychology)Children of the richInheritance and successionSocial change in fictionIndiana in fictionPulitzer Prize Winner