By Love Possessed Summary
James Gould Cozzens

By Love Possessed Summary

This novel centers on the theme of reason versus passion. Arthur Winner, a lawyer modeling himself after his lawyer father, is the man of reason who, within the forty-nine hours covered by the novel, must confront and act upon situations arising out of passion. Arthur discovers that Noah Tuttle, now at eighty the senior partner in the law firm, had, during the Depression, embezzled money from trust accounts to prevent the failure of the Brocton Rapid Transit Company and the subsequent ruin of its many local investors. Over the years, Noah has made clever investments by means of which he has slowly covered almost all the shortages. Arthur must decide whether to turn Noah in — the correct and reasonable act — or to allow him to continue to make his investments, a decision which would make Arthur a legal accomplice, obliging him to continue the scheme in...

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