Jennie Gerhardt

Jennie Gerhardt is a 1911 novel by Theodore Dreiser.

ennie Gerhardt is a destitute young woman. While working in a hotel in Columbus, Ohio, Jennie meets Senator George Brander, who becomes infatuated with her. He helps her family and declares his wish to marry her. Jennie, grateful for his benevolence, agrees to sleep with him, but ill fortune intercedes and the Senator dies, leaving her pregnant. She gives birth to a daughter, Vesta, and moves to Cleveland where she finds work as a lady's maid to a prominent family. Consequently, she meets Lester Kane, a prosperous manufacturer's son.