In This Our Life (novel)

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First edition (publ. Jonathan Cape)

In This Our Life is a 1941 novel by the American writer Ellen Glasgow. The title is a quote from the sonnet sequence Modern Love by George Meredith: "Ah, what a dusty answer gets the soul/ When hot for certainties in this our life!" It won the Pulitzer Prize for the Novel in 1942. The book was quickly bought by the Warner Brothers and adapted for a film of the same name, which was released in 1942.

Plot summary[edit]


Film adaptation[edit]

In 1941 Warner Brothers purchased the film rights for $40,000 and quickly began casting the film In This Our Life. The screenwriter Howard Koch adapted the novel for the screen, downplaying the incestuous aspect of William Fitzroy's relationship with his niece Stanley, and the portrayal of contemporary racial discrimination in the South. It starred Bette Davis and Olivia de Havilland as the sisters, both well-recognized actresses.