This novel is the story of two friends who have different values and wind up with very different lives.
Dora is shallow and seriously wrecks her husband’s life with her lack of discretion. Ethel is a stronger
woman. She has more depth and marries someone she is more suited for—a man who shares her
philosophy of life. It’s a good word picture of how marriage can either build us up or reveal how the
wrong things were important to us when we chose our life partner.
A surprising twist at the end hints that Dora may get a second chance to right the wrongs she caused her
husband.
Like most of Amelia Edith Huddleston Barr’s novels, this one has a thoughtful spiritual depth. But there
is a sadness in it that may come from our century’s light view of marriage.