The Gilded Age, Part 1.

by Mark Twain

"The Gilded Age, Part 1." by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner is a satirical novel published in 1873. It follows a rural family's desperate attempts to strike it rich by selling their vast Tennessee landholdings in post-Civil War America. Their adopted daughter Laura becomes a Washington lobbyist, navigating a world of corrupt politicians and social climbers. Meanwhile, two young men pursue their own fortunes through land speculation. The novel satirizes the greed, materialism, and political corruption that would define an entire era of American history.