Elizabeth Appleton is a novel by John O'Hara

John O'Hara

John Henry O'Hara was an American writer. He initially became known for his short stories and later became a best-selling novelist whose works include Appointment in Samarra and BUtterfield 8. He was particularly known for an uncannily accurate ear for dialogue...

 first published in 1963

1963 in literature

The year 1963 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*First United States printing of John Cleland's 1749 novel, Fanny Hill . The book is banned for obscenity, triggering a court case by its publisher.*Leslie Charteris publishes his final collection of stories...

. It is about a rich New York woman born in 1910 who, at the age of 21, marries beneath her. She follows her husband to his hometown in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

, where he enjoys a modest academic career as a history professor. There Elizabeth Appleton, the eponymous heroine, leads an inconspicuous life as a housewife and mother of two. Almost ten years into her marriage, she falls in love with a rich loafer and embarks on a passionate but secret love affair with him.

As in earlier novels, O'Hara minutely chronicles smalltown life in America in the first half of the 20th century, especially its social and sexual mores.