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The Grain of Dust: A Novel
by David Graham Phillips
Category: Fiction
Status: Available
Source: Public Domain — Project Gutenberg
About This Book
"The Grain of Dust: A Novel" by David Graham Phillips is a work of fiction written during the early 20th century. The novel introduces its readers to the contrasting lives of two characters: Miss Dorothea Hallowell, an unassuming young woman seeking employment, and Frederick Norman, a young and ambitious lawyer in a prestigious law firm. The narrative explores themes related to social class, ambition, and the complexities of human relationships. The opening of the novel presents the mundane circumstances under which Dorothea finds herself working at a large law firm in New York City. Her interactions are minimal, hinting at her self-effacing nature and the struggles she faces as a temporary employee. In contrast, Frederick Norman emerges as a dynamic character, displaying wit, ambition, and a certain ruthlessness in his professional ambitions. The reader witnesses their initial encounter, which is laden with an undercurrent of potential emotional complexity that might develop as the story unfolds. As Dorothea's character slowly reveals depth through her emotional struggles, Norman’s allure as both a charismatic leader and an enigmatic figure becomes apparent, setting the stage for their developing relationship. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
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About This Edition
This edition of The Grain of Dust: A Novel by David Graham Phillips is catalogued on Libreya under Fiction and runs approximately 97,462 words — about 487 minutes of reading at an average pace. It is sourced from Project Gutenberg, the world's oldest digital library of public domain literature, founded in 1971 by Michael Hart, and every text on Libreya has been verified to be free of copyright restrictions in the United States. You can view the original Project Gutenberg edition here.
On Libreya, the text has been carefully formatted for comfortable reading on any screen — with consistent chapter navigation, adjustable font sizes, and four reading themes: light, sepia, dark, and night mode. Your reading position is saved automatically when you sign in, so you can pick up exactly where you left off across any device. The original text has not been altered in any way; what you read here is the same work as it appeared in its original published form.
About Classic Fiction
Classic fiction represents the highest achievements of literary imagination. The novels in this genre have shaped how generations of readers understand human nature, society, and the fundamental questions of existence. Reading 19th and early 20th-century novels offers far more than historical interest: these stories explore love, ambition, morality, and identity with an insight that remains startlingly relevant today. Authors like Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Austen, Hardy, and Dickens wrote for readers much like us — people trying to make sense of a complicated world — and their observations on class, relationships, power, and conscience carry across centuries with barely diminished force. Classic fiction is also where the novel as an art form reached some of its greatest heights: innovative narrative structures, deeply realized characters, and prose styles that reward slow, attentive reading. These are not museum pieces. They are living works that continue to be discussed, adapted, and argued over because they capture something essential and enduring about human experience.
