The Three Black Pennys: A Novel

by Joseph Hergesheimer

Joseph Hergesheimer (1880-1954) was one of the most popular writers of his day, which extended from 1915 to the end of the 1920s when he suddenly went out of favor. This romantic three generational saga details the rise of a steel making family in Pennsylvania. Its main characters are independent, passionate and honest. Published in 1917.

412 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1917

About the author

Joseph Hergesheimer was a prominent American writer of the early 20th century known for his naturalistic novels of decadent life amongst the very wealthy.

He established an early reputation with his first novel The Lay Anthony in 1914. Three Black Pennys, which followed in 1917, chronicled the fictional lives of three generations of Pennsylvania ironmasters and cemented the author's style of dealing with upperclass characters through a floridly descriptive style he referred to as "aestheticism." Hergesheimer also received critical recognition for his novels Java Head (1919), Linda Condon (1919), and Balisand (1924).

Reviews

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

An engrossing novel by Joseph Hergesheimer. Written in about 1917, just after the era of the impressionist paintings. Hergesheimer uses color like the impressionists - - - "...a cataract of liquid steel burst out through lambent orange and blue flames. It poured, searing the vision, into the ladle, over which rosy clouds accumulated in a bank drifting..."¦ €œ Even the first sentence starting out with â"...A twilight like blue dust sifted..."€ Or a description of a candle being yellow and white flowers dancing...

The story traces three generations of a family in the iron making industry of Pennsylvania, but these are not consecutive generations.

Clearly, I enjoyed the novel.

[carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting

I had never read a book such as this. The story line was very different. It was extremely long. Stick with it

[Lana · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book very much. A story of three generations of the Penny males who were considered "black Pennys" because in their ways they all marched to their own drumbeat.