Before this, his mastery of character portrayal had not culminated,
and later, his power of artistic selection and repression was not so
strictly exercised.
_The Rise of Silas Lapham_ is a story of the home life and business career
of a self-made merchant, who has the customary braggadocio and lack of
culture, but who possesses a substantial integrity at the root of his
nature. The little shortcomings in social polish, so keenly felt by his
wife and daughters, as they rise to a position due to great wealth, the
small questions of decorum, and the details of business take up a large
part of the reader's attention; but they are treated with such ease,
naturalness, repressed humor, refinement of art, and truth in sketching
provincial types of character, that the story is a triumph of realistic
creation. _A Modern Instance_ is not so pleasant a book, but the attention
is firmly held by the strong, realistic presentation of the jealousy, the
boredom, the temptations, and the dishonesty exhibited in a household of a
commonplace, ill-mated pair. _Indian Summer_ begins well, proceeds well,
and ends well. It may be a trifle more conventional than the two other
novels just mentioned, but it is altogether delightful.
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