The midlander

About “The midlander”

National Avenue, originally titled The Midlander, is the final novel in Booth Tarkington’s Growth Trilogy and centers on Dan Oliphant, a man driven to industrialize his Midwestern town by creating an industrial suburb called Ornaby Addition. The novel explores the consequences of industrialization on the community and environment, portraying Dan’s ambitious vision as both sympathetic and destructive, while examining the human cost of progress.