first published 1924

Dorothy Canfield Fisher turned gender roles upside down in this novel about a dysfunctional family, set in small-town America in the 1920s. Eva Knapp is the epitome of the devoted housewife of the time. While she loves her husband and children, she is driven by a sense of duty to keep the household running like clockwork, and has little time for expressions of affection. She is plagued by eczema, and nothing the doctor prescribes seems to improve it. Her husband, Lester, is a forlorn bookkeeper with a going-nowhere job in the local department store. He's miserable with indigestion whenever he eats anything. Nothing the doctor prescribes seems to improve it. Their oldest child, Helen, is a mouse...always trying and failing to meet her mother's expectations, nervous and frail. Eleven-year-old Henry has inherited his father's weak stomach, and is often ill. All manner of special preparations and diets have been prescribed, but nothing seems to improve his condition either. And Stephen, the toddler...well, he's simply unmanageable. Prone to temper tantrums, to hiding under the stairs clutching his beloved Teddy Bear, and always, always tracking dirt into his mother's clean house. His mother faintly hopes he will one day grow out of it. When Lester fails to get a promotion, it appears that near-poverty is to be the family's permanent condition. But then a freak accident (or an opportunity seized to escape it all) lands Lester on his back...crippled and confined to a wheelchair. Out of necessity Eva seeks a job, and finds one in the ladies' wear department of the store where Lester had been employed. Lester and the children set about learning to keep house in her stead. Subtle changes begin to set in. Lester and Helen find they can quite well manage meals with the help of "cookery" books. Stephen has fewer tantrums, and is seen smiling at his father. Eva takes satisfaction in turning her organizational skills to tasks more suited to her nature. The family spends evenings together, sharing stories of their days, and playing whist. Some dust gathers in corners, but Eva's eczema disappears, and Henry becomes a boy who eats store-bought cookies without dire consequences. Everyone is obviously healthier and happier with the new arrangement. It's all cleverly laid out, from multiple perspectives, including the childrens', a nosy neighbor's, and the department store owner's. My only quibble is that there comes a day when it appears that Lester may "get well"...his spinal injury has healed to the point where he may actually walk again, and no one knows how to handle this. God forbid they carry on with what's working so well for them...what would people SAY? And not even the adults can discuss this honestly with one another. The ending felt a bit contrived, and at the same time underdone. Still well worth reading for an early take on role reversal, and understanding what it takes to make a happy life. ( )

Reason read: American author challenge, October 2023
This book published in 1924, set in small town America grapples with finding your place in the world. By an act of providence a family does just that.

I enjoyed the story and while it was unknown to me, I was able to find a copy and I felt it was still able to be appreciated though it explored the traditional family roles of working father, house keeping women, and dutiful children.

The traditional family no longer exists. Men and women are free to work at what ever they desire. It is still true that it is hard for some to find that happy place. I liked the ending but also felt it is questionable ending that promotes living a lie to hold on to happiness. ( )

The Knapps are an ill-assorted couple. The gentle, poetic Lester makes barely enough money to support his family, and hates his job. The energetic, efficient, angry Evangeline has an immaculate house, cooks beautifully and makes her herself, her husband and her children miserable. Everyone has an ailment except for the youngest boy, who throws tantrums. Circumstances result in a role reversal. Lester runs the house, Eva goes out to work and everyone is better off. But in 1924, an able-bodied man in Smalltown U.S.A cannot be allowed to stay home raising the children.

This book is for people who enjoy a clear moral, repeated often, don't mind sentimentality, and can do without subtlety. I found it cringe worthy. ( )

I can't lie; I hated this book. Did not finish it at about halfway through. Small town, narrow-mindedness, primitive ways of looking at family and marriage, though it's supposed to be forthright and modern in the reversal of roles that it represents. gawd I hated it. ( )