Joy Street (novel)

Last updated
Joy Street
Joy Street (novel).jpg
First edition
Author Frances Parkinson Keyes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
GenreNovel
Publisher Julian Messner (US) / Eyre and Spottiswoode (UK) [1]
Publication date
December 1, 1950
Media typePrint (hardcover)
Pages490 pp

Joy Street is a 1950 novel by Frances Parkinson Keyes. Despite only being released on December 1, 1950, it was ranked as the second best-selling novel in the United States for 1950. [2] Over two million copies were in print by the mid-1950s. [3] [4] [5] It also topped the New York Times Best Seller list for eight weeks in 1951.

The novel is set in Boston and explores a married couple facing the elitist expectations and norms of Boston society. Kirkus Reviews described it as a "meticulously caparisoned romantic novel." [6] William Darby's 1987 review of the popular literature of the 1950s describes the novel as "a characteristic woman's novel", which "unfolds at an excruciating pace." [7]

The novel was also serialized in Good Housekeeping magazine in November and December 1950. [8]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arthur Hailey</span> British-Canadian writer

Arthur Frederick Hailey, AE was a British-Canadian novelist whose plot-driven storylines were set against the backdrops of various industries. His books, which include such best sellers as Hotel (1965), Airport (1968), Wheels (1971), The Moneychangers (1975), and Overload (1979), have sold 170 million copies in 38 languages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ken Follett</span> British bestseller novelist

Kenneth Martin Follett, is a British author of thrillers and historical novels who has sold more than 160 million copies of his works.

The New York Times Best Seller list is widely considered the preeminent list of best-selling books in the United States. Since October 12, 1931, The New York Times Book Review has published the list weekly. In the 21st century, it has evolved into multiple lists, grouped by genre and format, including fiction and nonfiction, hardcover, paperback and electronic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American literature</span> Literature written or related to the United States

American literature is literature written or produced in the United States of America and in the colonies that preceded it. The American literary tradition thus is part of the broader tradition of English-language literature, but also includes literature of other traditions produced in the United States and in other immigrant languages. Furthermore, a rich tradition of oral storytelling exists amongst Native American tribes.

Genre fiction, also known as popular fiction, is a term used in the book-trade for fictional works written with the intent of fitting into a specific literary genre, in order to appeal to readers and fans already familiar with that genre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alistair MacLean</span> Scottish writer

Alistair Stuart MacLean was a Scottish novelist who wrote popular thrillers and adventure stories. Many of his novels have been adapted to film, most notably The Guns of Navarone (1957) and Ice Station Zebra (1963). In the late 1960s, encouraged by film producer Elliott Kastner, MacLean began to write original screenplays, concurrently with an accompanying novel. The most successful was the first of these, the 1968 film Where Eagles Dare, which was also a bestselling novel. MacLean also published two novels under the pseudonym Ian Stuart. His books are estimated to have sold over 150 million copies, making him one of the best-selling fiction authors of all time.


With more than half the world's population living in cities, urban fiction has become a truly global field. Recent comprehensive studies of urban fiction showcase the worldwide reach of the genre and include Writing Beirut: Mappings of the City in the Modern Arabic Novel (2015) by Samira Aghacy, Indigenous Cities: Urban Indian Fiction and the Histories of Relocation (2017) by Laura M. Furlan, Postcolonial Indian City-Literature: Policy, Politics and Evolution (2022) by Dibyakusum Ray, and Sensing the Sinophone: Urban Memoryscapes in Contemporary Fiction (2022) by Astrid Møller-Olsen.

Donald Heiney was a sailor and academic as well as a prolific and inventive writer using the pseudonym of MacDonald Harris for fiction.

<i>Preserve and Protect</i>

Preserve and Protect is a 1968 political novel written by Allen Drury. It is the third sequel to Advise and Consent, for which Drury was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1960, and is followed by two alternate sequels of its own, Come Nineveh, Come Tyre (1973) and The Promise of Joy (1975).

<i>The Memoirs of Cleopatra</i>

The Memoirs of Cleopatra is a 1997 historical fiction novel written by American author Margaret George, detailing the purported life of Cleopatra VII, Queen of Egypt. Published on April 15, 1997, it landed on The New York Times Best Seller list for Fiction Hardcover. In 1999, the American network ABC adapted it for television, and released it as a four-part mini series entitled Cleopatra starring the French-Chilean actress Leonor Varela alongside Timothy Dalton and Billy Zane.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John R. Tunis</span> American writer and broadcaster

John Roberts Tunis, "the 'inventor' of the modern sports story", was an American writer and broadcaster. Known for his juvenile sports novels, Tunis also wrote short stories and non-fiction, including a weekly sports column for the New Yorker magazine. As a commentator Tunis was part of the first trans-Atlantic sports cast and the first broadcast of the Wimbledon Tennis Tournament to the United States.

<i>Smile</i> (comic book) Graphic novel written by Raina Telgemeier

Smile is an autobiographical graphic novel written by Raina Telgemeier. It was published in February of 2010 by Graphix, an imprint of Scholastic Inc. The novel provides an account of the author's life, characterized by dental procedures and struggles with fitting in, from sixth grade to high school. The book originated as a webcomic, which was serialized on Girlamatic. It is most appropriate for readers between fourth and sixth grade. Smile has had a pedagogical impact, and reviews have been written on this novel.

Lafayette Ronald Hubbard, better known as L. Ron Hubbard, was an American pulp fiction author. He wrote in a wide variety of genres, including science fiction, fantasy, adventure fiction, aviation, travel, mystery, western, and romance. His United States publisher and distributor is Galaxy Press. He is perhaps best known for his self-help book, the #1 New York Times bestseller Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health, and as the founder of the Church of Scientology.

<i>Across the Universe</i> (novel) 2011 novel by Beth Revis

Across the Universe is a trilogy of young adult science fiction novels written by American author Beth Revis. Chronicling the life of Amy Martin aboard a generation ship hundreds of years in the future, Across the Universe, the first novel published in 2011 by Razorbill, received a starred Kirkus review and made the New York Bestseller List for Children's Chapter Books.

<i>The Flounder</i>

The Flounder is a 1977 novel by the German writer Günter Grass. It is loosely based on the fairy tale "The Fisherman and His Wife".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Soman Chainani</span> American author and filmmaker

Soman Chainani is an American author and filmmaker, best known for writing the children's book series The School for Good and Evil.

Courtney Summers is a Canadian writer of young adult fiction. Her most famous known works are Cracked Up to Be,This is Not a Test,All the Rage, and Sadie.

<i>Peter</i> (novel)

Peter: A Novel Of Which He Is Not The Hero is a novel published in 1908 by Francis Hopkinson Smith, which was the sixth best selling book in the United States in 1908, and ninth best-selling book of 1909. It sold in excess of 100,000 copies.

<i>The Sword of Summer</i> Young-adult fantasy novel by Rick Riordan

The Sword of Summer is a young-adult fantasy novel based on Norse mythology written by American author Rick Riordan. It was published on October 6, 2015, by Disney Hyperion, and is the first novel in the Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christine N. Govan</span> American novelist

Christine Noble Govan was an American writer. She was born in New York City and lived most of her life in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

References

  1. (28 July 1951). An Engrossing Modern Story (review), The Age
  2. Hackett, Alice Payne. Seventy years of best sellers, 1895-1965, p. 185 (1967) ("second in fiction sales, it reached its place in only one month in the bookstores. It was published on December 1 with an advance of 110,000. Re-orders makes its total, by the end of the year, 140,285.")
  3. The Publisher, Volume 170, Part 1, p. 34 ("Joy Street has been Mrs. Keyes' most popular novel, and it has sold over 2,000,000 copies in the English language alone.")
  4. Cournos, John. Middle-Drawer Brahmins (review), The New York Times (subscription required)
  5. Branswell, Mary (23 December 1950). Charms of Boston Colors New Novel (review), Manitoba Ensign
  6. (12 December 1950). Joy Street (review), Kirkus Reviews
  7. Darby, William. Necessary American Fictions: Popular Literature of the 1950s, p. 166 (1987)
  8. Pawley, Christine. Reading Places: Literacy, Democracy, and the Public Library in Cold War America, p. 228 (2010)