Alice Adams (1921)
Beasley’s Christmas Party (1909)
The Beautiful Lady (1905)
Beauty And The Jacobin; An Interlude Of The French Revolution (1912)
Cherry (1903)
Claire Ambler (1928)
Clarence; A Comedy In Four Acts (1921)
The Collector’s Whatnot: A Compendium, . . . (1923)
The Conquest Of Canaan: A Novel (1905)
The Fascinating Stranger, And Other Stories (1923)
The Flirt (1915)
Gentle Julia (1922)
The Gentleman From Indiana (1927)
The Gibson Upright (1919)
A Great Man’s Wife (1923)
Growth (1927)
The Guest Of Quesnay (1908)
Harlequin And Columbine (1921)
The Heritage Of Hatcher Ide (1941)
His Own People (1907)
How’s Your Health? A Comedy In Three Acts (1930)
Image Of Josephine (1945)
In The Arena : Stories Of Political Life (1905)
Kate Fennigate (1943)
Little Orvie (1934)
Looking Forward; And Others (1926)
The Lorenzo Bunch (1936)
The Magnificent Ambersons (1918)
The Man From Home (1908)
Mary’s Neck (1932)
The Midlander (1924)
Mirthful Haven (1930)
Mister Antonio; A Play In Four Acts (1935)
Monsieur Beaucaire (1900)
Mr. White, The Red Barn, Hell, and Bridewater (1935)
Penrod (1914)
Penrod and Sam (1916)
Penrod: His Complete Story (1931)
Penrod Jashber (1929)
The Plutocrat (1927)
Presenting Lily Mars (1933)
The Quest Of Quesnay (1922)
Ramsey Milholland (1919)
Rumbin Galleries (1937)
Seventeen (1916)
The Show Piece (1947)
Some Old Portraits; A Book About Art And Human Beings (1939)
The Trysting Place : A Farce In One Act (1924)
The Turmoil (1915)
The Two Vanrevels (1902)
Wanton Mally (1932)
Women (1926)
The World Does Move (1928)
The Wren; A Comedy In Three Acts (1922)
Young Mrs. Greeley (1929)
Your Amiable Uncle; Letters To His Nephews (1949)
(1869-1946) was born in Indianapolis, Indiana on July 29, 1869. One biographer described him as “an amiable humorist, a shrewd psychologist, and a skillful storyteller: in short, a writer whose best works ought not to be left unread.”
While not a native “Mainer,” he had spent summers in the state since 1903 and bought property in Kennebunkport in 1916 – eighteen acres on a hill overlooking the town.
In 1917 he added to his property and built a handsome colonial frame house that became one of the tourist attractions of Kennebunkport. Named Seawood, this pleasant house drew him back to Maine regularly each year. . . . The place in Maine was a perfect setting for a man whose passion was to surround himself with beautiful things. . . . From the west side of his hilltop he could catch glimpses of the Kennebunk River, beyond which lay Wells Harbor and Mount Agamenticus . . . . (Woodress, 274-275)
He and his neighbor, Kenneth Roberts, became friends and literary colleagues beginning in 1919. According to Woodress, “Without Tarkington’s repeated encouragement and infinitely patient editorial assistance Roberts might never have written any novels.”
In the 1920’s, Tarkington became aware that he was slowly going blind. He finally lost all sight while in Maine in 1930. During a period of five eye operations in the late 1920’s, he began to write material based on Maine characters and places. Woodress reports that “Almost everything he wrote at this time was laid in the vicinity of Kennebunkport and drew its characters from the permanent residents of the place and the summer colony.”
When World War II began, and the summer colony almost disappeared as the country organized for the war effort, Tarkington joined the Coast Guard Auxiliary and helped patrol the coast of Kennebunkport in his motorboat. He spent the summers of the war years at “The Floats,” a “clubhouse” he bought on the Kennebunk River with his neighbor William Trotter.
Booth Tarkington died on May 19, 1946 in Indianapolis, his boyhood hometown.
Additional resources
Cournos, John. Famous Modern American Novelists. New York: Dodd, Mead. 1952.
Fennimore, Keith J. Booth Tarkington. New York: Twayne Publishers. 1974.
Russo, Dorothy R. A Bibliography of Booth Tarkington, 1869-1946. Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society. 1949.
Woodress, James. Booth Tarkington: Gentleman from Indiana. New York: Lippincott Company. 1955.