author
Edward Noyes Westcott
1847–1898
Best known for the hugely popular novel David Harum, this Syracuse banker-turned-writer captured small-town American life with humor, sharp dialogue, and a memorable eye for character. His literary fame arrived only after his death, which gives his story an added note of poignancy.
2 Audiobooks
David Harum A Story of American Life
by Edward Noyes Westcott
The Christmas Story from David Harum
by Edward Noyes Westcott
About the author
Born in Syracuse, New York, Edward Noyes Westcott came from a prominent local family and left school at sixteen to begin work in banking. He spent much of his working life in finance, including time in insurance and banking offices, before turning seriously to fiction later on.
Westcott is remembered above all for David Harum: A Story of American Life, a novel set in upstate New York that mixes regional speech, comedy, and a warm but shrewd view of everyday people. The book was published in 1898 after several rejections and after Westcott's death, then quickly became a major bestseller.
He died in 1898 in Syracuse, leaving behind a reputation built largely on a single novel that far outlived him. That combination of business experience, local color, and posthumous success makes his career feel both unusual and distinctly American.