{"product_id":"the-good-soldier-angie-zambrano-9781500922375","title":"The Good Soldier: A Tale of Passion (Starbooks Classics Editions)","description":"\u003cb\u003eThe Good Soldier: A Tale of Passion\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \"I know nothing - nothing in the world - of the hearts of men. I only know that I am alone - horribly alone.\" \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cb\u003e The Good Soldier: A Tale of Passion\u003c\/b\u003e is a 1915 novel by English novelist Ford Madox Ford. It is set just before World War I and chronicles the tragedy of Edward Ashburnham, the soldier to whom the title refers, and his own seemingly perfect marriage and that of two American friends. The novel is told using a series of flashbacks in non-chronological order, a literary technique that formed part of Ford's pioneering view of literary impressionism. Ford employs the device of the unreliable narrator to great effect as the main character gradually reveals a version of events that is quite different from what the introduction leads the reader to believe. The novel was loosely based on two incidents of adultery and on Ford's messy personal life. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e The novel's original title was The Saddest Story, but after the onset of World War I, the publishers asked Ford for a new title. Ford suggested (sarcastically) The Good Soldier, and the name stuck. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cb\u003eIn 1998, the Modern Library ranked The Good Soldier 30th on its list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cb\u003eMajor characters\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e John Dowell: The narrator, husband to Florence. Dowell is an American Quaker, a gullible and passionless man who cannot read the emotions of the people around him. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Florence Dowell: John Dowell's wife and a scheming, manipulative, unfaithful woman who uses Dowell for his money while pursuing her affairs on the side. She fakes a heart ailment to get what she wants out of her husband and has a lengthy affair with Edward Ashburnham. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Edward Ashburnham: Friend of the Dowells and husband of Leonora. Ashburnham is a hopeless romantic who keeps falling in love with the women he meets; he is at Nauheim for the treatment of a heart problem but it's unclear whether the ailment is real. He is Dowell's opposite, a virile, physical, passionate man. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Leonora Ashburnham: Edward's wife by a marriage that was more or less arranged by their fathers. Leonora comes to resent Edward's philandering as much for its effect on her life as on her marriage and asserts more and more control over Edward until he dies. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Nancy Rufford: The young ward of the Ashburnhams; Edward falls in love with Nancy after he tires of Florence. Eventually Nancy is sent by Ashburnham to India to live with her father, but she goes mad en route when she learns of Edward's death. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e La Dolciquita: A Spanish dancer (The Grand Duke's mistress) who is Edward's first sexual affair. Although he believes himself to be romantically attached to her, he quickly becomes disillusioned by her thirst for his money. She is not at all interested in Edward's \"sentimental\" gestures, and asks for money and expensive gifts in exchange for sex. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Maisie Maidan: Edward's third affair. Maisie was a young, pretty, married woman whom Leonora purchases from her \"child husband\" and brings back to Europe for Edward's sake. Maisie has a true heart defect and it takes her life as she tries to flee from Edward.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Angie Zambrano,Ford Madox Ford\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1500922374\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781500922375\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Createspace Independent Publishing Platform\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 08\/23\/2014\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 194\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.64lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.02h x 5.98w x 0.45d","brand":"Angie Zambrano","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":48995852747007,"sku":"9781500922375","price":8.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/the-good-soldier-angie-zambrano-9781500922375","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}