THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL

    Novelists at the turn of the last century were often fascinated by the changes in women’s behavior created by the modernization of American society. But they seem to have had a lot of trouble giving their unmarried female characters plausible sex lives. Extramarital sex -- sometimes even thoughts of it -- either wasn’t mentioned, was allowable only for actresses, or led to death. The Vision of Elijah Berl deserves some credit for at least acknowledging the issue. The book, incidentally, has been reissued in paperback and is also available for free download.

    The Vision of Elijah Berl by Frank Lewis Nason. Little, Brown and Co. (1905), 290 pp.
    Citrus grower Elijah Berl has finally discovered God’s plan for him. He will build a dam in the San Bernardino Mountains and bring water to irrigate the nearly worthless land below. Orange groves will flourish, and Berl will become rich and admired. He’s selected a crack engineer, Ralph Winston, to be his partner. Winston isn’t worried so much about the feasibility of the project as the prospect that his values of rationality and fair play will conflict with Berl’s fanatical desire to succeed. Even less supportive is Berl’s loving but unimaginative wife, Amy, who fears any change in their lives. Winston signs on despite his misgivings. More enthusiastic is Alice Lonsdale, a beautiful but tough-minded stenographer whose determination to get ahead may match Berl’s own.
    This novel gets almost 200 pages on the way to greatness. Nason successfully humanizes iconic characters: the willful entrepreneur with big dreams, the self-confident engineer whose skill can make the desert bloom, and the New Woman eager to break free of social constraints. Through the use of convincing detail, the author makes their world completely credible. Even the interlocking romantic triangles are plausible. Then (that is, p. 187) the story enters a bog of Victorian moralism. Alice, previously notable for her independence, business acumen and drive for success, is now distinguished by her “strong, sturdy sense of honor.” Ralph is suddenly offended by Elijah’s shady business moves. And Berl himself suffers a strange attack of guilt that threatens his entire project. It’s easy for modern readers to see the characters having normal problems in chaneling their sexual desires. If Nason had been able to take this view, the book would be important rather than merely interesting.