It’s time to revisit the novels that were bestsellers in 1929, the year when the stock market crashed plunging America into the Great Depression.
I haven’t been able to locate all the novels on the list, but those I’ve found have been fascinating. Here in order are the 1929 top 10, led by a classic novel about the first World War:
- All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
- Dodsworth by Sinclair Lewis
- Dark Hester by Anne Douglas Sedgwick
- The Bishop Murder Case by S. S. Van Dine
- Roper’s Row by Warwick Deeping
- Peder Victorious by O. E. Rolvaag
- Mamba’s Daughters by DuBose Heyward
- The Galaxy by Susan Ertz
- Scarlet Sister Mary by Julie Peterkin
- Joseph and His Brethern by H. W. Freeman
In the next few weeks, I’ll tell you which of these have held their value for today’s readers.