When the Old Century Was New - Theodore Dreiser -234 / 365 of reading one short story every day.

When the Old Century Was New


Set in New York in 1801, the story is about  a day in the life of William Walton, a gentleman merchant of Colonial times, wealth and status prestige. Although Walton does propose to, and is accepted by, the fair Mistress Beppie Cruger, very little actually happens in the sketch; its interest arises from the historical verisimilitude that Dreiser gives to the commonplace.

Image - New York City and the East River, 1848.




Adapted from Drieserworks blog