The Girls

With “much humor” and “awareness of family dynamics” this classic novel “stands as an enduring portrait of women torn between duty and self-fulfillment”(Publishers Weekly).

First published in 1921, Edna Ferber’s The Girls revolves around the “three Charlottes” of the Thrift family—Great-Aunt Charlotte, her niece Lottie, and Lottie’s niece Charley. All single “old maids,” as the narrator describes them, their lives weave together as they deal with issues involving money, work, friendship, f...