William Makepeace Thackeray

'I think I could be a good woman if I had five thousand a year.' Becky Sharp is sharp, calculating, and determined to succeed. Craving wealth and a position in society, she charms, hoodwinks, and manipulates everyone she meets, rising in the world as she attaches herself to a succession of rich men. Becky's fortunes are contrasted with those of...

William Makepeace Thackeray has always been an author for those with discriminating literary palettes. I do not hesitate to name Thackeray first, said his most devoted disciple, Anthony Trollope. Few would deny that he is the finest literary stylist of his time. Thackeray was at his most Thackerayan in what he called small beer chronicles: the little things in life....