Spinning out of the pages of The Resistance, The Joneses focuses on a suburban family with a big secret: In the global pandemic known as the "Great Death,” mother, father, sister and brother were all transformed into something superhuman. While the world embraces fascism born of fear, the Joneses realize they face grave consequences if they are exposed as “Reborns.” Do they keep a low profile and hide in plain sight…or use their powers for good and risk exposure?

Reprint of the original, first published in 1872. The publishing house Anatiposi publishes historical books as reprints. Due to their age, these books may have missing pages or inferior quality. Our aim is to preserve these books and make them available to the public so that they do not get lost.

Spinning out of the pages of The Resistance, The Joneses focuses on a suburban family with a big secret: In the global pandemic known as the "Great Death,” mother, father, sister and brother were all transformed into something superhuman. While the world embraces fascism born of fear, the Joneses realize they face grave consequences if they are exposed as “Reborns.” Do they keep a low profile and hide in plain sight…or use their powers for good and risk exposure?

A century ago many Americans condemned envy as a destructive emotion and a sin. Today few Americans expect criticism when they express envy, and some commentators maintain that the emotion drives the economy. This shift in attitude is Susan Matt's central concern. Keeping up with the Joneses: Envy in American Consumer Society, 1890-1930 examines a key transition in the meaning of envy for the American middle class. Although people certainly have experienced envy throughout history, the expansion of the consumer economy at the turn of the twentieth century dramatically reshaped the social role of the emotion. Matt looks at how different groups within the middle class—men in white-collar jobs, bourgeois women, farm families, and children—responded to the transformation in social and cultural life. Keeping Up with the Joneses traces how attitudes about envy changed as department stores, mail-order catalogs, magazines, movies, and advertising became more prevalent, and the mass production of imitation luxury goods offered middle- and working-class individuals the opportunity to emulate upper-class life. Between 1890 and 1910 moralists sought to tame envy and emulation in order to uphold a moral economy and preserve social order. They criticized the liberal-capitalist preoccupation with personal striving and advancement and praised the virtue of contentment. They admonished the bourgeoisie to be satisfied with their circumstances and cease yearning for their neighbors' possessions. After 1910 more secular commentators gained ground, repudiating the doctrine of contentment and rejecting the notion that there were divinely ordained limits on what each class should possess. They encouraged everyone to pursue the objects of desire. Envy was no longer a sin, but a valuable economic stimulant. The expansion of consumer economy fostered such institutions as department stores and advertising firms, but it also depended on a transformation in attitudes and emotional codes. Matt explores the ways gender, geography, and age shaped this transformation. Bridging the history of emotions and the history of consumerism, she uncovers the connection between changing social norms and the growth of the consumer economy.

With their family under public scrutiny, siblings Charity, Hope, and Lovie try to figure out who murdered a former family friend while matriarch Lexi realizes that "status" isn't as important as she thought.