# Alice Adams — Character guide

> Key figures in Alice Adams by Booth Tarkington.

- [Alice Adams](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/alice_adams_se/characters/alice_adams.md): A proud, pretty girl in a shabby house who studies the manners of the rich, hoping charm can buy what her family's fallen fortunes cannot.
- [Walter Adams](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/alice_adams_se/characters/walter_adams.md): The restless son who drifts with fast company and coldly demands money his struggling father doesn't have, dragging the family name down with him.
- [Mrs. Adams](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/alice_adams_se/characters/mrs_adams.md): Alice's anxious mother, who irons her husband's clothes in the heat and blames herself for every wrong turn her children take.
- [Arthur Russell](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/alice_adams_se/characters/arthur_russell.md): A wealthy, well-mannered young man newly arrived in town, whose polite attention to Alice sets every ambitious mother's calculations spinning.
- [Virgil Adams](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/alice_adams_se/characters/virgil_adams.md): Alice's father, a worn businessman straining to give his family the standing they crave while his plant and patience both run thin.
- [Mildred Palmer](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/alice_adams_se/characters/mildred_palmer.md): The town's reigning young socialite, whose parties Alice longs to enter and whose interest in Arthur Russell makes her a quiet rival.
- [Charley Lohr](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/alice_adams_se/characters/charley_lohr.md): A local businessman and friend of Walter Adams.
- [Mr. Lamb](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/alice_adams_se/characters/mr_lamb.md): A wealthy and influential businessman in the community.
- [J. A. Lamb](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/alice_adams_se/characters/j_a_lamb.md): A prominent local figure, possibly related to Mr. Lamb.
- [Gertrude Collamus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/alice_adams_se/characters/gertrude_collamus.md): A friend or acquaintance of Alice Adams.
- [Mrs. Dowling](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/alice_adams_se/characters/mrs_dowling.md): A neighbor or acquaintance of the Adams family.
- [Frank Dowling](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/alice_adams_se/characters/frank_dowling.md): Husband of Mrs. Dowling, a local man.
- [Miss Perry](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/alice_adams_se/characters/miss_perry.md): A young woman in the social circle.
- [Henrietta Lamb](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/alice_adams_se/characters/henrietta_lamb.md): A member of the Lamb family.
- [Harvey Malone](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/alice_adams_se/characters/harvey_malone.md): A young man who works for Walter Adams.
- [Ella Dowling](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/alice_adams_se/characters/ella_dowling.md): Daughter of the Dowlings, a young woman.
- [Billy Dickson](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/alice_adams_se/characters/billy_dickson.md): A young man in the social circle.
- [Joe Lamb](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/alice_adams_se/characters/joe_lamb.md): A younger member of the Lamb family.

HTML index: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/alice_adams_se/characters