The Home-maker (original 1924; edition 1999)

Set in small-town America around the time it was written, this novel explores gender roles and how they affect families, and one family in particular. Lester Knapp is an accountant for a department store; his wife, Evangeline, is a housewife raising their three children. They both perform the roles expected of them by society, yet neither is suited to their role and neither is particularly happy. When Lester is injured in an accident that leaves him home-bound, his wife goes to work—to the benefit of everyone in the family.

Dorothy Canfield Fisher gets her reader deep into the heads of her characters, so we can understand exactly what they’re like and so that we get a three-dimensional view of the situation. Even the children’s point of view is well represented—especially Stephen, aged 5, who fears having his Teddy taken away to be washed. Therefore, we get the truth of a situation without the biases of your traditional narrator and so that the reader can see exactly what’s going on under the surface. While all the characters in the novel are lovable, my favorite is Lester—a dreamy poetry lover who turns out to excel as a homemaker and discovers a new-found appreciation for his children and their talents.

Fisher believed strongly in the strength of one’s internal personal life over external considerations. And the strength of this novel is what it says about American culture in general. Small town life is famous for being busybody-like; everyone knew your business and involved themselves in it, and if you strayed away from that, you’d be ostracized. So this novel serves as a sort of criticism of that way of life and what it represents. None of the Knapp family really has the freedom to do what suits them personally; they’re all at the mercy of what society dictates. In all, an incredible novel, with the wheelchair representing how social expectations can bind us all. ( )

A book written in 1924 about gender rolls - very scandalous at the time. Story of a family that finds out, through tragedy, that mom is happiest at work while dad is happiest at home. ( )

This was an amazing book--one of my favorites from Persephone Books. I love it when an author recognizes that more intensity and drama occurs within a household than anywhere else; there was so much that was really truly important going on in this book that it was almost hard to read. An unhappy family was forced to remake itself in the aftermath of a tragedy, and then make an unspeakable sacrifice in order to retain their newfound equilibrium. This is the sort of sacrifice Elizabeth Goudge talks about--these people were heroes.

This book begins as a downright harrowing picture of suburban family life, circa the 1920s. But it turns into a thoughtful (and sometimes amusing) examination of how adherence to traditional views of gender roles might actually be doing harm to the family at the center of the book. Even though this book was written in 1924, the ideas within it are absolutely relevant today. Sadly, the debates about who ought to be responsible for child-rearing and housekeeping have continued, and most often, it’s the women who take on the bulk of these domestic responsibilities. What’s refreshing about Fisher’s approach is that she shows how a narrow view of gender roles is just as damaging to men as it is to women. And even more so, how it's damaging to children, who have a right to be cared for by the best person available.

Although I enjoyed this book immensely, it did leave me feeling rather sad. The Knapp family of this book was able to find a way for everyone to be happy and have their needs met. They were lucky. Many families are not nearly so lucky, even today; and Fisher’s answer may come across as a little too pie-in-the-sky. But I doubt that Fisher’s aim was to present an in-depth analysis of how families must live. She’s just opening readers’ eyes to how the nontraditional way may in fact be the best for everyone. It’s sad that, more than 85 years later, it still needs to be said.

See my complete review at Shelf Love. ( )

Wow, this is a terrific book. I am very slow reader and I finished it in one weekend. It's definitely going on my favourites' list. Although it was written in the 1920's, the things it has to say about gender roles and society's expectations of people's behaviour are still relevant today. And the relationship between the children and their parents is beautifully described. I would reccomend this book to anyone, the themes are so universal. And I'm single, without children, so you don't have to be married or have children to enjoy it. ( )