The Newcomes

The Newcomes is a novel by William Makepeace Thackeray, first published in 1855. It is considered by many to be Thackeray's masterpiece, and one of the finest English novels ever written.

Here is the story of Colonel Thomas Newcome, a virtuous and upstanding character who was often referred to by people at the turn of the 20th Century. For example, in his autobiography, Theodore Roosevelt described his uncle, James Dunwoody Bulloch, as "a veritable Colonel Newcome".

It is equally the story of Colonel Newcome's son, Clive, who studies and travels for the purpose of becoming a painter, although the profession is frowned on by some of his relatives and acquaintances - notably Clive's snobbish, backstabbing cousin Barnes Newcome.

The colonel and Clive are only the central figures in The Newcomes, the action of which begins before the colonel's birth. Over several generations the Newcome family rises into wealth and respectability as bankers and begin to marry into the minor aristocracy. A theme that runs throughout the novel is the practice of marrying for money. Religion is another theme, particularly methodism.

— Excerpted from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.