The Prodigal Judge

The Prodigal Judge is a novel written by American novelist Vaughan Kester and published in 1911.^{[2][3][4][5][6]}

The Prodigal Judge

Author	Vaughan Kester
Illustrator	M. Leone Bracker
Language	English
Publisher	Bobbs-Merrill Company
Publication date	March 11, 1911[1]
Publication place	United States
Media type	Print (hardcover) (448 p.)

Kester wrote the novel while living at Gunston Hall in Virginia. A best-seller, it was the second-best selling fiction book in the United States in 1911.^[7][8][9] Kester died in July 1911, but not before enjoying the knowledge his book had reached the top of the bestseller lists.^[10]

To promote the book, publisher Bobbs-Merrill Company held a "book review contest", with prizes of $250, $150, and $100 for the first through third best reviews published in the first month of the book's release, judged by a panel consisting of Yale University professor William Lyon Phelps, magazine editor John Sanborn Phillips, and writer William Allen White.^[1] Third place went to H. L. Mencken.^[11]

Adaptations

Macklyn Arbuckle in 1922 film version.

It debuted at the Bronx Opera House in December 1913 with George Fawcett playing the judge.^[12]

It was also made into a silent film of the same title directed by Edward José, starring Jean Paige and Macklyn Arbuckle (as the judge), released in 1922.^[13]