William Dean Howells (1837-1920) published ‘A Hazard of New Fortunes’ in 1890.

It deals with the lives of several inhabitants of New York, most of them connected in some way with the publication of a fortnightly review called Every Other Week.

The owner, Dryfoos, was once a farmer but has made his fortune from natural gas and financial speculation. He is capitalism incarnate but is baffled by high society, its artists, writers and wealthy patrons.

His encounter with Lindau, an idealistic German socialist, sets off a train of events that comes very close to destroying both men.

The novel concludes during a violent rail strike, when the police are ordered to club the striking workers. Both Lindau and Dryfoos’s son are present.

Howells’ realism is detailed but rarely vivid. We learn a great deal about New York as it was at this time, especially the different apartments available for rent.

But, though he contrasts obscene wealth and abject poverty, Howells engages only briefly – and largely theoretically – with the hunger and misery that dogs the poorest.

Some of the characters are very well drawn, especially Dryfoos himself, his barely tame daughter, Christine, and Beaton, a handsome, flirtatious but ultimately self-obsessed young artist.

It’s a rewarding novel, well worth reading, but, ultimately, it disappoints somehow.

TD

May 2023