A Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, "Alice Adams" chronicles the attempts of a lower-middle class American, midwestern family, the Adams, to climb the social ladder at the turn of the 20th century. Alice, despite her faults, is generally agreed to be a lovable young woman, and she hopes for a better place in society and a better life.

Booth Tarkington (1869-1946) was an American novelist and dramatist. Originally from Indianapolis, he attended both Purdue University and Princeton, as well as getting an honorary doctorate from Columbia. His family was well-off, though they lost some of their wealth in the Panic of 1873 (the Great Depression).

He won the Pulitzer Prize twice, for "The Magnificent Ambersons" (1918) and "Alice Adams" (1921), making him one of only three to win it more than once, putting him alongside William Faulkner and John Updike. Whilst he is less known today, he was considered to be America's greatest living author during the early 20th century.