Free Air

By Sinclair Lewis

One of the first road trip novels, Free Air is the story of Claire Boltwood, a young heiress who, in the early days of the automobile, takes a road trip from New York to the Pacific coast. Liberating in all senses, Claire’s road trip frees her from the strict confines of aristocratic life, as she finds love and settles into a new life far removed from her entitled upbringing.

A winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, Sinclair Lewis wrote stories heavily influenced by America’s urbanization, industrialization and loss of frontier in the post-war period.

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• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Jun 26, 2012
• ISBN: 9781443417549

Sinclair Lewis

Nobel Prize-winning writer Sinclair Lewis (1885-1951) is best known for novels like Main Street, Babbitt, Arrowsmith (for which he was awarded but declined the Pulitzer Prize), and Elmer Gantry. A writer from his youth, Lewis wrote for and edited the Yale Literary Magazine while a student, and started his literary career writing popular stories for magazines and selling plots to other writers like Jack London. Lewis’s talent for description and creating unique characters won him the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1930, making him the first American writer to win the prestigious award. Considered to be one of the “greats” of American literature, Lewis was honoured with a Great Americans series postage stamp, and his work has been adapted for both stage and screen.

Reviews for Free Air

[coffyman · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is one fun read! Fascinatingly old fashion. Sinclair Lewis has a glib voice that draws you in and keeps you wanting to see what happens next.

[lindawwilson · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Good enough to read straight through. A nostalgic tale about America before WWI with a sweet old fashioned love story.

[pamelad_570511 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I can safely assume that this is not the book for which Lewis was awarded the Nobel Prize. A New York society girl sets off with her convalescent father to drive across the country. On the way she meets a young man who is the SALT OF THE EARTH, a happy contrast to her jaded and cynical society friends. The best parts of this book are the descriptions of the trip across the country: the people on the way, the small towns and the countryside. Motoring was in its early days, the roads were bad and garages were few and far between. For a young woman to drive from New York to Seattle really was a brave undertaking.

[lyzzybee · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

My third Sinclair Lewis novel after “Arrowsmith” and “Main Street”, and I really like his portrayals of early 20th century America and Americans. Here we find Claire, driving her father from New York to Seattle, and Milt, a rather unsophisticated man she encounters on the way, who determines to look after her and captures her heart, but finds himself out of his depth. Well written and very perceptive on the effect of our social surroundings on our character and behaviour. An unfortunate animal death notwithstanding, a fine book, and an author I will continue to look out for.