J. P. Marquand

• Born: November 10, 1893
• Birthplace: Wilmington, DE
• Died: July 16, 1960

J. P. Marquand is a novelist who won a Pulitzer Prize for his work The Late George Apley (1937). Marquand was known for his sharp analysis of the shifting patterns of middle and upper class society in mid-20th century America. His family was financially comfortable until his father's business failed. Marquand was sent to live with relatives and was profoundly affected by his reduced status, suffering from a loss of security. This made him far more aware of social classes in society, and how they determined people's behavior.

Many of Marquand's novels were sympathetic tales of New England's upper classes and their deterioration. His final novel, Women and Thomas Harrow (1958), is about a successful playwright and is partly autobiographical

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Most Famous Works

• The Late George Apley (1937)
• Wickford Point (1939)
• H.M. Pulham, Esquire (1941)
• Sincerely, Willis Wayde (1955)

(1893-1960)

1937	The Late George Apley. Marquand wins the Pulitzer Prize for this "novel in the form of a memoir," detailing the life story of a member of an old Boston family, which expertly presents a portrait of an age, a class, and a locality. The author would collaborate with George S. Kaufman in a dramatization in 1944. Marquand was raised in Newburyport, Massachusetts, the locale of many of his works, and was a journalist and advertising copywriter. His previous works included The Unspeakable Gentleman (1922), The Black Congo (1925), and Warning Hill (1930).
1939	Wickford Point. The novelist widens the focus of Boston Brahmin life in The Late George Apley (1937), a chronicle of the well-to-do Brill family and their Massachusetts community.
1941	H. M. Pulham, Esquire. Marquand's bestseller is a wry satire on the Boston Brahmin class. It offers the autobiographical reflections of the title character, who is preparing for his twenty-fifth reunion at Harvard. His modest successes are deemed empty compared to the promise of his college years.
1943	So Little Time. This novel concerns a successful dramatist's second thoughts about the direction of his life, set against the backdrop of the outbreak of war. Marquand's characteristic deft satiric touches and comedy of manners earn him the sobriquet "Martini-Age Victorian" by critic Charles A. Brady.
1945	Repent in Haste. Marquand's novel concerns a war marriage gone bad, told with the author's characteristic deft touch of social comedy and strong character development.
1946	B.F.'s Daughter. The novelist continues his documentation of American social manners in the story of a domineering daughter of a wealthy industrialist.
1949	Point of No Return. As a banker awaits news of a promotion, he returns to his Massachusetts home to review his life.
1951	Melville Godwin, U.S.A. Marquand's satire concerns the effort to turn a professional soldier into a national hero. His ironic portrait of contemporary American life, skillfully delivered by an unreliable narrator, is mainly misread by reviewers, who see the book as an affirmation of American values.
1955	Sincerely, Willis Wayde. Marquand continues his ironic portrayal of American life in the story of an industrialist's rise to success. It is Marquand's harshest social portrait, employing his most contemptible protagonist.