Books: Love in a Dying World

MAIN LINE (313 pp.)—Livingston Biddle Jr.—Julian Messner ($3).

In its day, the Philadelphia Main Line was perhaps the most splendid suburb since Louis XIV's real-estate development at Versailles. That day is past. Many of the estates have been broken into petty parcels, many of the great homes torn down or converted into genteel academies. The grandsons of the great generation have not exactly returned to shirtsleeves, but they are catching the 8:24 instead of the 9:35.

Yet the social and moral order of the Main Line lingers, as a good upper will outwear its...

Want the full story?

Subscribe Now

Subscribe
Subscribe

Learn more about the benefits of being a TIME subscriber

If you are already a subscriber sign up — registration is free!