''Elizabeth Appleton'' is a novel by

John O'Hara John Henry O'Hara (January 31, 1905 – April 11, 1970) was one of America's most prolific writers of short stories, credited with helping to invent ''The New Yorker'' magazine short story style.John O'Hara: Stories, Charles McGrath, ed., The L ...

written in

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Ja ...

and first published in

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cov ...

. The story is set mostly in Pennsylvania, and the time of the narrative stretches from the early 1930s to 1950. As in earlier novels, O'Hara minutely chronicles small-town life in America in the first half of the 20th century, especially its social and sexual mores.

Plot

The title character is a woman from a wealthy New York family who, at a young age, marries a scholar of modest means. They move to his hometown in Pennsylvania, where he becomes a history professor and later a college dean. Several years into the marriage, after having two children, she embarks on a passionate but extremely secret love affair with a wealthy and affable local man.

Commercial success

The novel appeared in

Publishers Weekly's ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine o ...

list of the top ten best-selling fiction works in the United States in the year 1963.

References

1963 American novels Adultery in novels Novels by John O'Hara Novels set in Pennsylvania Random House books {{1960s-erotic-novel-stub