The Valley of Decision

Year of Publication
1942
Publication Type
Novel
Number of Pages or Episodes
640 p.
Language
English
Contributors Author: Marcia Davenport
Publisher
Charles Scribner's Sons
City
New York
Genre
Keywords
Abstract
Chronicles four generations of the Scott family—owners and operators of a competitive iron and steel company—from the economic panic of 1873 through the rise of American industry and trade unionism, waves of immigration, class conflict, natural disasters, and two World Wars. Mary Rafferty, the family's long-serving and trusted Irish maid, is a central character.
Notes
This novel was a national bestseller. North Side is referred to as Allegheny City, as it was then known.
Author Biography
Marcia Davenport (1903-96), born to an opera singer and prominent violinist in New York City, was a writer and music critic. She eloped to Pittsburgh in 1923 to marry her first husband Frank Clarke. After university studies in France, she re-married Russell Davenport, a New York publisher, and became closely involved with the Foreign Minister of Czechoslovakia Jan Masaryk. She died in Monterey, California.
Time
1870s-1940s
Places
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