Sister Carrie

By Theodore Dreiser

This novel, published in 1900, is the story of a young, naive girl from a small town who moves to Chicago to make her way in the world. Carrie (she is called Sister Carrie by her family) moves in with her older sister and her family and looks for work in the big city. Too bad for her that she has no skills and no experience. The only job she can find is in a factory, and it is exhausting and boring work and Carrie finds her fellow workers crude and unruly. She sticks it out but soon becomes ill and loses the job. She decides to move back home but doesn't have enough money for the train ticket and she doesn't want to ask her sister. She happens to run into a man that she had met on the train on her way to Chicago and they go out to eat. The man, Drouet, is a traveling salesman and a bit of a ladies man and he talks Carrie into moving into a little apartment with him. Somehow, Carrie forgets all her scruples and moves in with this man. (I found that part rather unbelievable, that this nice girl would set up house with a virtual stranger.) Carrie doesn't love Drouet, but he buys her nice clothes and things.
Drouet introduces Carrie to a friend of his, Hurstwood, who falls for Carrie.
Drouet has to go back on the road for a few weeks and in his absence, Hurstwood goes after Carrie. Carrie, in turn, is fascinated by Hurstwood, who she perceives as being of a much better class than Drouet. Hurstwood is the well paid manager of a resort.
Hurstwood is bored with his marriage and being with Carrie makes him feel young again (he's in his 40's). But Drouet finds out what has been going on and confronts Carrie. She admits she has been dating Hurstwood and that she has hopes he will marry her. Drouet informs Carrie that Hurstwood is already married and then he moves out. Carrie is enraged at Hurstwood's duplicity and breaks it off.
Poor Hurstwood is desperate to get her back. One night, as he is locking up at work, he discovers the bookkeeper didn't shut the safe before he left. Hurstwood finds $10,000 cash in the safe and takes it out. He thinks about taking the money and leaving town with Carrie and going to Canada. He realizes this would be a terrible mistake and thinks he'll put the money back. But then he accidentally (or not) shuts the safe and decides to burn his bridges behind him. He contacts Carrie and tricks her into getting on the train with him, heading to Canada.
When Carrie realizes she's been tricked she gets very angry. The only way Hurstwood can placate her is by promising to marry her. They get married under an assumed name in Canada and this makes Carrie happy, which means she must be the world's biggest dope. Anyways, they head off to New York.
Hurstwood regrets taking the money and contacts his former employer and makes arrangements to return the money. He keeps a little of it to start their new life together in New York City.
Things don't go well for Hurstwood. The business he invests in closes. He tries to find work but fails. Finally, they are down to their last $100. Carrie finds a job on a chorus line, and tired of Hurstwood's failure, moves in with another chorus girl. Hurstwood ends up on the street. Carrie goes on to a career in show biz.

This is not the most exciting story that was ever written. It was pretty slow going and I almost gave up on it about a third into it. I didn't find the characters believable, except for Drouet. Carrie didn't make any sense at all, changing from a good girl to a slut in the course of one afternoon. Hurstwood threw away everything chasing after Carrie, smitten by a pretty face and a nice figure. That wasn't too believable either, especially his theft of the $10,000.
When this book was first published, it was heavily edited to make it more acceptable. Even so, it was banned in some communities. But a new, unabridged version is now available, which may be more interesting than the 1900 edition.

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