A Belated Guest (From Literary Friends And Acquaintance)

A quiet encounter can illuminate a life. A Belated Guest gathers its quiet power in a single evening turning a seemingly ordinary visit into a meditation on memory belonging and the unwritten rules of hospitality.William Dean Howells crafts a precise humane portrait of nineteenth century america where social etiquette and prickly proprieties intersect with genuine warmth. In realist prose fiction that feels both intimate and observant the novella threads together memory and belonging through the careful choreography of a guest's return and a household's unease. The result is clearer more humane than mere anecdote-a study in how small moments expose larger truths about class obligation and connection. This is classic american realism rendered with modern clarity a text as comfortable in a book club discussion as in a classroom reading inviting readers to explore character consequence and the social fabric of a new england setting.Historically Howells helped shape American realism and this restored edition stands as a significant touchstone for students of literary history and for lovers of enduring fiction. Out of print for decades Alpha Editions now brings it back not simply as a reprint but as a collector's item and a cultural treasure-preserved for today's audiences and for future generations of readers who value precise craft humane insight and a humane gaze upon the everyday. ideal for readers seeking short story tradition american short fiction mark twain realism and the quiet grandeur of social observation.