Paperback Edition
ISBN: 9781558610217
Publication Date: 05-01-1990

Afterword by Patricia McClelland Miller

This story of a young woman’s coming of age in a small Midwestern town at the turn of the century, first published in 1922. Challenged by middle-class economic hardship, distrust of her unhappy parents, and the unjust social status of women, the intelligent and strong-willed heroine struggles to attain a sense of herself. Her triumph, as she leaves for college and a career as teacher and writer, is the triumph of all children who refuse to relive the mistakes of their parents.

"As a child groping for the beauty of peace [Jean] is drawn with fine sympathy. . . . Quest breathes the very essence of drama. It is a book to pick up a second time." —New York Tribune (1923)

"Extraordinary in that it presents a female adolescent who is intelligent, strong willed, and who embodies criticism of the middle-class economic and social status of women." —Publishers Weekly