Harold Bell Wright
The Eyes of the World
"The Eyes of the World" by Harold Bell Wright is a novel published in 1914. Set in "Fairlands," a fictionalized version of Redlands, California, the story focuses on artists and art patrons navigating their world. The novel became the bestselling book in the United States that year, selling hundreds of thousands of copies despite harsh criticism from literary critics who dismissed Wright's moralistic storytelling as inferior. This commercially successful work offers a glimpse into early twentieth-century American attitudes toward art, society, and moral values.