I would like to know what else was published in 1924 in the United States. I'm sure there was more than one book published, there always is, right? There had to be other choices than The Able McLaughlins by Margaret Wilson. Okay, I'm not saying the book is terrible...Believe me I've read worse, but it's just not that stunning. It's actually highly forgettable. I'm trying to remember it right now, so that I can write a decent summary and return it to the library. I just find it interesting that THIS was the choice in 1924. In 1923 Willa Cather's One of Ours won, in 1925, Edna Ferber's So Big! won. As far as I'm concerned Willa Cather is a rock star especially in women's literature. Not only has she written some of the great American classics in terms of midwestern farm literature, but she was a lesbian! She wrote with mostly male protagonists and is quoted somewhere as saying(it might be at some point in the intro to my copy of My Antonia, I would have to get my ass up off the couch and look, which is not going to happen right now, as it is late and I am anxiously trying to plow through the review of this and Kildare Dobbs' book)that the reason she wrote with mostly male protagonists is that she was therefore most easily able to write about a character's love for another woman. I love Willa Cather, and probably would have fallen over myself trying to fuck her if I was her contemporary. Edna Ferber, too, is amazing. So Big! blew me away in total surprise, and then when I looked Ferber up and found out that she had also written some of the other great American novels like Giant and Showboat, she made me go, why does no one read her anymore?????

1923, 1924, 1925. Three women won the Pulitzer three years in a row. Women only got the right to vote in this country in 1919. Three women would never win the Pulitzer in succession like that ever again. So early in the history of the prizes, this is very impressive. Sad that the one sandwiched between the other two(have not read Cather's book yet, perhaps very soon, but I have high hopes as I loved her other stuff so much) was not so impressive. I complained to a friend that I thought it was pretty simplistic in terms of plot, and he replied by asking me what did I expect, it was 1924. I was at least able to respond with, look at The Magnificent Ambersons, and So Big! amongst others that were published right around that time. This is when my friends start to smile and pat me on the shoulder, like a good parlour game, and say Em........who else cares about literature in the 1920s except for you?

Okay, brief plot synopsis of The Able McLaughlins and some interpretation, so that it doesn't get completely forgotten...This book centers around Wully McLaughlin and his life post-Civil War, though the book begins and takes some time in the end of the Civil War era. Wully reacquaints himself with his childhood sweetheart Chirstie, whom he has had plans to marry. When he finally returns from the war for good, he goes to Chirstie's house to speak with her, she is frightened of him, won't look at him, and sends him away. It is not too long after that he finds out why. She is pregnant, with the child of his cousin, Peter Keith, who took advantage of her and her innocence while Wully was away at war. In the late 1860s this is really really bad. Really bad. Wully decides, out of his complete and TOTAL love for Chirstie to marry her, and take the child on as his own, taking the blame for having pre-marital sex. He tells Peter that he has to do the honorable thing and leave town forever, that way the child could be raised with an honorable name(Peter had no plans to marry Chirstie)and so that Chirstie could continue her life without fear and anxiety. What is interesting is a couple of things. One, Wully's mother flips out when the child is born prior to the appropriate 9 months after the wedding, and the concern over the townspeople's reaction and the shame is HUGE for her. It makes you really think about where we're at now with all of this and where we were at in 1924 and even in the 1860s. And then, there are other things in the world that still exist, leftover racial prejudices, etc., that make one wonder how far we really have come...but, I digress. The second thing is Peter's mother Libby Keith, is absolutely a train wreck after the disappearance of her son that she basically loses all sanity searching and searching for him.

What's worse? Losing one's sanity over the loss of one's child, or losing one's reputation over the loss of virginity before marriage? What needs protecting more? Clearly the social answer in this book is that the virginity issue is much worse. But, there is slightly more to this story, because it is also about how far some people will go for love...Wully doesn't have to do anything that he does for Chirstie, he could have come home from the Civil War, found out she was pregnant and abandoned her much like his cousin did, considering her damaged goods. What he does instead is MARRY HER. What does that say about his integrity and his undying affection for his young wife??? It is interesting to see what happens to his integrity when Peter is rumored to be back in town...

I guess my only problem with this book was its overly simplistic style. Am I picky about the depth of my novels? Perhaps too much so. But, I kind of think that I have the right to be since I've read now(not when I had read this book, but now as I am CURRENTLY writing) 97 of the books on the combined lists. Mmm Hmm...that's right, 97 baby! 100 earns me some Trophy cupcakes and a lot of champagne. Anyone buying? Anyway, back to McLaughlins. The book depicts an era that needs to be written about, yes; the Midwest in post-Civil War times, but it just isn't enough of a book I think, to stand up to so many of the greats that the Pulitzer prize has turned out. I mean, really, I can list so many fabulous books that just blow this one out of the water. But, it won in 1924, making that historic hat trick of women writers in the mid-1920s and perhaps that is its eventual claim to fame. If you're reading the prizes to read the prizes and get an idea of what won when, like me, then go for it. If you're looking for a great example of American literature, I've got tons OF OTHER EXAMPLES for you.:)