Elizabeth Appleton

Elizabeth Appleton is a novel by John O'Hara written in 1960 and first published in 1963.[1] The story is set mostly in Pennsylvania, and the time of the narrative stretches from the early 1930s to 1950.

First edition (publ. Random House)

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.

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.