The novel describes the problems of a family in which husband and wife are oppressed and frustrated by the roles that they are expected to play. Evangeline Knapp is the ideal housekeeper, while her husband Lester is a poet and a dreamer. Suddenly, through a nearly fatal accident, their roles are rev...

The novel describes the problems of a family in which husband and wife are oppressed and frustrated by the roles that they are expected to play. Evangeline Knapp is the ideal housekeeper, while her husband Lester is a poet and a dreamer. Suddenly, through a nearly fatal accident, their roles are reversed; Lester is confined to home in a wheelchair and his wife must work to support the family.