Frontmatter -- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS -- PREFACE -- TABLE OF CONTENTS -- I. GROWING UP TO BE A WRITER -- II. THE FIRST NOVELS: THE DESCENDANT; PHASES OF AN INFERIOR PLANET; THE VOICE OF THE PEOPLE -- III. FIRST LOVE AND A LOOK AT THE PAST THE FREEMAN AND OTHER POEMS; THE BATTLEGROUND; THE DELIVERANCE (1899-1906) -- IV. THE SEARCH FOR PERSONAL SOLUTIONS: THE WHEEL OF LIFE (1906) AND THE ANCIENT LAW (1908) -- V. FROM METAPHYSICAL SPECULATION TO SOCIAL HISTORY: THE ROMANCE OF A PLAIN MAN (1909) AND THE MILLER OF OLD CHURCH (1911) -- VI. FROM THE PLAIN MAN TO THE NEW WOMAN: VIRGINIA (1913) AND LIFE AND GABRIELLA (1916) -- VII. WRITING FOR CATHARSIS: THE BUILDERS (1919), ONE MAN IN HIS TIME (1922), THE SHADOWY THIRD (1923) -- VIII. THE ACHIEVEMENT OF ARTISTIC MATURITY: BARREN GROUND -- IX. CONCLUSIONS -- APPENDIX -- BIBLIOGRAPHY -- Backmatter