First published in 1933, Sinclair Lewis&#39;s &quot;Ann Vickers&quot; is a masterpiece that tells the story of a extremely complex character. Ann Vickers is a strong-minded prison superintendent dedicated to enlightened social reform, she also seeks to fulfil herself as a sexual being. The protagonist is in all respects her own person, standing up to the confining rules of her society.<br /><br />Some reviewers were outraged by &quot;Ann Vickers&quot; when it first appeared in 1933. &quot;<i>Persons unused to horrid and filthy things had better stay at a safe distance from this book</i>,&quot; wrote one.<br /><br />The controversy provoked by his works (such as &quot;Babbitt&quot; and &quot;Ann Vickers&quot;) was influential in the decision to award the Nobel Prize in Literature to Lewis in 1930.