''Years of Grace'' is a

1930 Events January * January 15 – The Moon moves into its nearest point to Earth, called perigee, at the same time as its fullest phase of the Lunar Cycle. This is the closest moon distance at in recent history, and the next one will be ...

novel by

Margaret Ayer Barnes Margaret Ayer Barnes (April 8, 1886, Chicago, Illinois – October 25, 1967, Cambridge, Massachusetts) was an American playwright, novelist, and short-story writer. She was awarded the Pulitzer Prize. Biography Margaret Ayer grew up the youn ...

. It won the

Pulitzer Prize for the Novel The Pulitzer Prize for Fiction is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Letters, Drama, and Music. It recognizes distinguished fiction by an American author, preferably dealing with American life, published during ...

in 1931. Despite this, it is not her best-known work; that honor belongs to ''

Dishonored Lady ''Dishonored Lady'' (also known as ''Sins of Madeleine'') is a 1947 American crime film directed by Robert Stevenson and starring Hedy Lamarr, Dennis O'Keefe and John Loder. It is based on the 1930 play ''Dishonored Lady'' by Edward Sheldon and ...

'', a play she co-wrote with

Edward Sheldon Edward Brewster Sheldon (Chicago, Illinois, February 4, 1886 – April 1, 1946, New York City) was an American dramatist. His plays include ''Salvation Nell'' (1908) and ''Romance'' (1913), which was made into a motion picture with Greta Garbo. ...

, which was adapted twice into film (first as ''

Letty Lynton ''Letty Lynton'' is a 1932 American Pre-Code Hollywood, pre-Code drama film starring Joan Crawford, Robert Montgomery (actor), Robert Montgomery and Nils Asther. The film was directed by Clarence Brown and based on the 1931 Letty Lynton (novel), ...

'' and later with its actual title). Barnes' alma mater, Bryn Mawr College, along with the characters of college presidents

M. Carey Thomas Martha Carey Thomas (January 2, 1857 – December 2, 1935) was an American educator, suffragist, and linguist. She was the second president of Bryn Mawr College, a women's liberal arts college in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. Biography Early life ...

and Marion Park figure prominently in this work. The story, beginning in the 1890s and continuing into the 1930s, chronicles the life of Jane Ward Carver from her teens to age fifty-four. This novel follows many of the same themes as Barnes' other works. Centering on the social manners of upper middle class society, her female protagonists are often traditionalists, struggling to uphold conventional morality in the face of changing social climates.

References

External links

Photos of first edition of ''Years of Grace''
1930 American novels Pulitzer Prize for the Novel-winning works Bryn Mawr College Novels set in Pennsylvania Houghton Mifflin books 1930 debut novels {{1930s-novel-stub