Stella Dallas

Résumé

I found Stella Dallas at an antique shop. I have not seen either film version, but really appreciated the excellent characters . The mother is Stella Dallas. What an interesting character! Shes flamboyant, spirited, and direct. She a girl from the wrong side of the tracks who marries Stephen Dallas. Stella & apos;s view of marriage is a practical one, seeing Stephen as a step up the social ladder, she does her best to have this mysterious man put a ring on her finger. Reeling from the shame of lost family pride, Stephen loses himself, only to hope hes found romance with the lovely Stella. But as the marriage goes on, Stephen finds her artless and lacking in grace and style. Stephen falls out of love with Stella. When Stella finds she is pregnant, it cramps her style. Eventually, Laurel Dallas is born to them. Stephen finds he is happier when away from Stella and increasingly uses his growing business in New York as a reason to stay away. He visits less and less frequently, until his major contact is with Laurel who comes to stay with him for several weeks in the summer. It is during this time that Laurel meets a wealthy widow who has been a friend of Stephens for a long time. Laurel finds Mrs. Morrison the essence of style and grace, using her as a role model. . The wealthy class certainly seem to judge books by their covers, as they cruelly make fun of Stella at an expensive hotel at which she takes Laurel. Just as the novel seems to be a character study about Stella who wants to have her kicks and neglects her marriage, the novel spins on a dime. Without giving away the plot conclusion, we see that Stella has come to care so deeply for her daughter Laurel thats welfare. Its touching. This is one of those novels that I became peeved with about midway through, only to be so glad I hung on to the wonderful ending.(Amazon customer)