Main Street is the book that first established Sinclair Lewis’s reputation as an important writer is both a satire and an affectionate portrait of Gopher Prairie, a typical American town, which was undoubtedly suggested by Sauk Centre, Minnesota, where Lewis was born.
The heroine, Carol Kennicott, chafes at the dullness and sterility of her existence as the wife of the local doctor, and she tries unsuccessfully to make the townspeople conscious of culture and refinement. For a time, she leaves to lead her own life but eventually returns to make a kind of peace with Main Street.