Lummox by Fannie Hurst
"Lummox" by Fannie Hurst is a novel written in the early 20th century. It centers on Bertha, a big, working-class domestic servant in New York whose awkward speech masks a deep, lyrical inner life. Through her, the story explores class, exploitation, longing, and the clash between brute labor and refined art, particularly in her orbit around the Farley household and its poet son, Rollo. The opening of the novel follows Bertha from
her rough Front Street origins and loveless upbringing under Annie Wennerberg into six grinding years as the Farleys’ cook in Gramercy Park. Quietly enraptured by beauty—music, words, fabrics—she is noticed and briefly embraced by Rollo, who later turns her into poetry while pursuing a society debutante. When Bertha becomes pregnant and cannot make him acknowledge it, she leaves, drifts back to Front Street, and endures humiliating employment searches before taking night work as a charwoman. She gives birth suddenly and, destitute, surrenders the child to a respectable couple for adoption, then resumes her precarious round of jobs—her vast, mute inner life intact amid the city’s indifference. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
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About this eBook
| Author | Hurst, Fannie, 1889-1968 |
|---|---|
| LoC No. | 23013730 |
| Title | Lummox |
| Edition | First edition |
| Original Publication | New York: Harper & Brothers, 1923. |
| Credits | Al Haines |
| Reading Level | Reading ease score: 83.7 (6th grade). Easy to read. |
| Language | English |
| LoC Class | PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature |
| Subject | Domestic fiction |
| Subject | Social problems -- Fiction |
| Subject | Social classes -- Fiction |
| Subject | Unmarried mothers -- Fiction |
| Subject | Women household employees -- Fiction |
| Subject | Women -- United States -- Social conditions -- 20th century -- Fiction |
| Category | Text |
| EBook-No. | 76447 |
| Release Date | Jul 5, 2025 |
| Copyright Status | Public domain in the USA. |
| Downloads | 292 downloads in the last 30 days. |
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