The author lived from 1867-1911 so that gives you some idea of the time frame of the story. Susan Lenox is born to an unwed mother who dies after childbirth. She becomes inconvenient to her Aunt's middle class family and is forced to marry a stranger to get her out of the way. This is the story of what she makes of her life. As you read the book, you realize that things haven't changed all that much. Woman still earn 70 cents for every dollar a man earns doing the same job, it's still hard to get ahead without your family's or a man's backing. Most of us are still wage-slaves. It's a fascinating book and will give you a lot to think about.

Phillips's best known novel, Susan Lenox, a story about the rise to success of an illegitimate country girl, was published posthumously in 1917. The Orphaned at birth, Susan depends on rural relatives who arrange everything, including her marriage. Not inclined to follow the rules, headstrong Susan instead runs away. Relying on a series of questionable men and working a variety of irreputable jobs, Susan makes her way back up in the world.

David Graham Phillips (October 31, 1867 – January 24, 1911) was an American novelist and journalist of the muckraker tradition. After completing his education, Phillips worked as a newspaper reporter in Cincinnati, Ohio, before moving on to New York City where he was employed as a reporter for The Sun from 1890 to 1893, then columnist and editor with the New York World until 1902. David Graham Philips is known for producing one of the most important investigations exposing details of the corruption by big businesses of the Senate, in particular, by the Standard Oil Company. He was among a few other writers during that time that helped prompt President Theodore Roosevelt to use the term “Muckrakers”.