Sister Kerry

Eighteen-year-old Carolina (Kerry) Mieber travels from Columbia City, her native small town, to her older sister and her husband in Chicago . Both relatives and the city meet her awkwardly. Hardly found after a long search, the hard and low-paying job at the Kerry factory lost due to illness. Finding a new place was difficult. The girl sat for a long time without money, but she was helped by the young salesman Drouet, whom she met on the train.

He persuaded the girl to move from relatives and made him his mistress. Soon, Drouet introduced Kerry to George Gerstwood, the manager of the bar. He immediately began to show interest in a pretty girl, who only intensified after Gerstwood saw Kerry in an amateur performance.

Seeing that Kerry was already weighed in a relationship with Drouet, Gerstwood began to look after her, in the hope of reciprocity, although he was married. When Kerry found out from Drouet, she decided to break up with her new lover, but that cunning made her flee with him, first to Montreal , and then to New York . There they had to live under different names, since before leaving Gerstwood robbed the bar that he controlled, and without explaining himself to his wife, fled. He then returned most of the money, and he and Kerry soon had nothing to live on. Herstwood’s attempts to find work were unsuccessful.

Then, with the permission of her husband, Kerry decided to try her luck in the theater . Not immediately, but she managed to get a job as a statistician. Gradually, thanks to her talent, she became a popular comedian under the pseudonym Kerry Madenda, previously coined for her by Drouet when she made her debut in an amateur performance, and threw Gerstwood, who gradually slipped to the bottom and committed suicide .

• Carolina (Kerry) Mieber ( English Caroline 'Carrie' Meeber ) - the main character of the novel;
• Minnie Hanson is the elder sister of Kerry, whom she lived with for a while before leaving for Drouet;
• Sven Hanson ( Eng. Sven Hanson ) - Minnie's husband;
• Charles Drouet ( born Charles H. Drouet ), a salesman, met Kerry on a train en route to Chicago;
• George W. Hurstwood - manager of the bar; subsequently Kerry's husband;
• Julia Hurstwood ( born Julia Hurstwood ) - wife of George;
• Jessica and George Jr. ( English Jessica and George, Jr ) - children of George and Julia Gerstwood;
• Mr. and Mrs. Vance are the neighbors of Kerry and Gerstwood in New York;
• Robert Ames - Mrs. Vance's cousin
• Lola Osborne ( English Lola Osborne ) - Kerry's girlfriend, whom she met when she started working in the theater.

The novel was filmed in 1952 , the director of the film version was William Wyler . The main roles were played by Laurence Olivier (Gerstwood), Jennifer Jones (Kerry) and Eddie Albert (Drouet).

In 1978, the musical “Māsa Kerija” (“Sister Kerry”) was staged at the Riga State Operetta Theater. Poems by Janis Peters , music by Raymond Pauls , in the role of sister Kerry Mirza Zivere .

• Ksenia Turkova . Chicago through the eyes of Dreiser: a tour of the novel "Sister Kerry." Voice of America , 08/28/2018