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Title: The Beautiful Lady

Author: Booth Tarkington

Narrator: Jim Killavey

Format: Unabridged

Length: 1 hr and 34 mins

Language: English

Release date: 01-12-12

Publisher: Jimcin Recordings

Ratings: 1 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Classics, British Literature

Publisher's Summary:

The Beautiful Lady, is a short novel from Booth Tarkington's early career. The story was originally published in two parts, December of 1904 and January of 1905, in Harper's Magazine, and then as Tarkington's fifth book in May of 1905. Mrs. Landry is The Beautiful Lady, a woman with a soul as beautiful as she it. Who will win her heart? Ansolini, an Italian from Naples now living in Paris? Rufus Poor, a young man who needs to be kept out of trouble or another mysterious man? This breezy read, is a fine introduction to one of Booth Tarkington's early works.

Members Reviews:

A light, diverting tale

During a visit to Paris, Booth Tarkington observed the bizarre figure of a young man sitting at a café with a theatre advertisement painted on his (shaven) head. Wondering what could have led someone into such a humiliating situation, he wrote this humorous novelette, first published in "Harper's Monthly."

What resulted is an amusing tale. The protagonist of the story is Ansolini, a young man from Naples who has run through his funds and is desperate for money. Soon after the café incident, he is offered a position acting as an escort and tutor for Rufus Poor, the son of a wealthy man. Ansolini is wholly unsuited to the responsibility, and easily manipulated by Rufus into accompanying him on wild evenings of drink and gambling. In the course of their adventures, Ansolini saves the "beautiful lady" of the story from a rascally fortune- hunter and helps Rufus win her favors. The plot entails love triangles and social intrigue, and the tone is light- hearted.

As Tarkington's biographer notes, "The Beautiful Lady" is "a minor but diverting work." It will mainly be of interest to readers seeking the author's early works, from before he gained fame for his fictional portrayals of the Midwestern US in the early decades of the 20th century.

Real Beauty Comes From Within

"The Beautiful Lady", is another of the short novels from Booth Tarkington's early career. It was originally published in two parts, December of 1904 and January of 1905, in "Harper's Magazine", and then as Tarkington's fifth book in May of 1905. As with many of Tarkington's other works, it is a bit too predictable, though in this case that doesn't detract too much from the story.

The story appears to sets up a love triangle (or in this case it may be a love square), but it does deviate from that a bit. The story is told from the point of the Italian, Ansolini from Naples, living in Paris who due to being down on his luck is forced into a most embarrassing position of acting as a billboard by shaving his head and having an advertisement for a show placed on the back of his bald head. It is while performing this job, that he nearly meets the "beautiful lady", though he keeps his head down and sees only her feet and the hem of her skirt and hears her lovely voice as it has sympathy for his plight. In fact, Ansolini's feelings are appreciative of her beautiful soul, and not that of romance.

The job gets him out of his immediate need for cash, but he is resolved to find a better line of work, and after writing to a friend he is setup for a position where he needs to appear much older, and so he continues to keep his head shaven as to appear older. The job is for him to take care of Mr. Lambert R.