The Homemaker

 

The Home Maker / Dorothy Canfield Fisher
Rare Treasure Editions, 2024, c1924.
255 p.

I read this book online recently, and even though it was written 100 years ago, I felt like it was discussing our current society directly. The writing style is a little straightforward but the issues are still so extremely relevant -  discussion of patriarchal roles, capitalism, gender relations, women feeling stifled by home making - it's all there. And not in an oblique way either, it's explicit, the reason for the novel, and all said straight out. Lots to consider in this novel! 

Evangeline Knapp is an energetic mother of three - a school aged boy and girl and a young toddler who is inquisitive and gets into everything. She likes her house and kitchen just so, and has a short temper with her children. She is involved in church groups, and all the other ladies admire her organizational and managing skills. But she's clearly not happy at home; a scene where she is at a ladies' sewing bee and the other ladies are asking her for advice and assistance shows that she is much more relaxed and comfortable when she is managing processes and people, not children and kitchens. 

Meanwhile her husband Lester is a mild, weak man with no real ambition. He's been a clerk at the local department store for years, never advancing and never making quite enough for them to really prosper, despite the encouragement and push from his wife to do so. He's dreamy and just wants to read his books, wishing he could have been a teacher. 

It all comes to a head when he is injured trying to help a neighbour. He is bedridden, partially paralyzed, with an uncertain outlook. This plunges the family into distress, as he is the breadwinner. But Evangeline doesn't take anything sitting down, she marches down to the store and asks to take over his job for the interim. Luckily for her, the shop owner is young and modern, and has a new position for a floor manager instead - and installs her, where her skills finally come to shine. She loves it, is very good at it, and impresses everyone. Her husband, having recovered enough to use a wheelchair, is happily domestic, learning to care for the house and the children. He loves it and turns out to be quite good at it. The thought of never going back to an office fills him with delight despite everything else. 

But then there is a chance that he could fully recover. Is this a good thing or a bad thing? They will have decide what road to take. 

I loved this. It was a delicate look at temperament and what a person is suited to. It examines the roles of a traditional marriage and how social norms and expectations might not work for everyone but powerfully control what people can do. The characterizations of both wife and husband are nuanced, showing their internal worlds and their frustrations, although this might have seemed topsy-turvy to contemporary readers. I found it a compelling and thought-provoking story, even 101 years after publication. Still so much in it to think about.