The Real Adventure (Annotated‪)‬

This annotated edition of The Real Adventure includes:

Reading notes before every chapter
Explanatory notes and commentary
A substantial biography of Henry Kitchell Webster
Historical, literary, and cultural context
An accessible and detailed reading guide
Critical essays on the novel’s themes and style
Reading pathways for further exploration
Discussion questions and writing prompts
A glossary of historical, cultural, and period terms

First published in 1916, The Real Adventure follows Rose Stanton as marriage, family life, work, and the expectations surrounding women’s lives begin to test her understanding of independence and partnership.

Set largely in Chicago and moving through drawing rooms, city streets, professional offices, domestic spaces, and the world of the theatre, Henry Kitchell Webster’s novel combines social comedy with an unusually practical interest in how people build lives of their own. Rose’s search for experience beyond the protected world of marriage gives the novel much of its energy, while Webster’s attention to money, work, class, clothing, travel, and everyday arrangements keeps its larger questions rooted in ordinary life.

This Sapientia Knowledge Press edition preserves Webster’s original text while providing an original editorial apparatus designed for the general reader. Historical and cultural explanations clarify the world of the novel without unnecessarily interrupting the story, while the reading guide, critical essays, questions, and glossary provide different ways of returning to the book after a first reading.

The original volume edition was published by The Bobbs-Merrill Company in Indianapolis in 1916. Bibliographic catalogues consistently confirm 1916 as the publication year.