What Will People Say? A Novel

About the book

Lieutenant Forbes returns from the Philippines to a Fifth Avenue transformed by traffic, wealth, and conspicuous display. A woman glimpsed from a motor-bus captures his attention before he can even see her face. Following that fascination brings him into the circle of Persis Cabot, where access to pleasure depends on money and social confidence as much as personal charm. Suppers, theatres, automobiles, and dancing offer exhilarating freedom, but the title's question remains a form of discipline beneath the apparent abandon. Hughes examines the difference between conduct that society tolerates privately and scandal it punishes publicly. Forbes must learn to interpret a world that first appeared simply dazzling, while romantic feeling encounters the practical claims of wealth and the fear of what others may think.

• Reputation and hypocrisy
• Love and wealth
• Urban spectacle

Why read it

The opening view of Fifth Avenue turns Forbes's attraction into an entry point for observing a whole social system.

English text of the April 1914 Harper and Brothers edition