Literary Significance and Reception
His Family was praised by many critics at the time of its publication. The Oakland Tribune, in its review on May 27, 1917, said "in this story of Roger Gale's family, Ernest Poole has pictured remarkably well present-day Americans. It is significant, intellectual and stimulating--a story of today." The New York Times profiled the book in its review of "notable fiction" for 1917, calling it "a fine successor to The Harbor ."
When Poole's first novel, The Harbor came out in 1915 it was a critical and popular success but the Pulitzer Prize did not yet exist. When his second novel His Family came out in 1918, the "consensus is that it’s the lesser of the two works, that the Pulitzer committee was really honoring Poole for The Harbor".
Read more about this topic: His Family
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