Focusing on Jennie Gerhardt, a poor young girl in Columbus, Ohio, Theodore Dreiser's novel depicts her inadvertently defying a host of conventions - of class, gender, family, and religion. Over a quarter of a century she is repeatedly victimized by circumstance, temperament, and most particularly by the fact of her sex. Yet the triumph of the book lies in her incorrigibly loving nature. Cast out by society as well as by her family, she none the less fosters a far deeper understanding of relationships that anyone else. Exploring the dynamic forces in modern life that strip away the right to control one's fate, this powerful novel confirmed Dreiser's reputation as America's premier naturalist writer as the beginning of the twentieth century. This book is intended for general; students from the sixth-form upwards following courses on world literature, American literature, American studies, and the novel.