The Home-Maker by Dorothy Canfield Fisher

For a novel first published in 1924, The Home-Maker feels surprisingly progressive, challenging as it does the traditional gender-based roles assigned to a husband and wife in a harmonious marriage. Set in small-town America in the 1920s, this thoughtful, immersive book explores the proposition that in some instances the man of the house is better placed than his wife to raise the children, while she in turn has the requisite skills to be the primary breadwinner. A radical concept at the time! And while society has changed significantly since the novel first appeared, the core principles Canfield Fisher explores here still feel highly relevant today. I adored this absorbing, beautifully written book, which reminded me of R. C. Sherriff’s The Fortnight in September in content, tone and feel.

Central to the story are the Knapp family: Lester, an accounts clerk for Willing’s department store, his wife, Evangeline, and their three children, Helen, Henry (both in school) and Stephen (still a toddler). As the narrative opens, we see Evangeline battling with the challenges of housework, stuck in a role that she clearly doesn’t enjoy. While everyone in the town looks up to her as the model homemaker, Evangeline loathes the drudgery of it all, hiding her true feelings from friends and neighbours alike.

What was her life? A hateful round of housework, which, hurry as she might, was never done. How she loathed housework! The sight of a dishpan full of dishes made her feel like screaming out. And what else did she have? Loneliness; never-ending monotony; blank, grey days, one after another, full of drudgery. No rest from the constant friction over the children’s carelessness and forgetfulness and childishness! How she hated childishness! (pp. 35–36)

Furthermore, she also lacks the patience and understanding to nurture her children, scolding them for any carelessness that adds to her burden. So, while the Knapps’ house is spotless, full of stylish furnishings Evangeline has fashioned from scraps, it is not a happy home; rather, the children are scared of their mother, fearing her wrath if they happen to make a mess. Evangeline, in turn, seems oblivious to her children’s unhappiness, but the reader can see it clearly. No wonder poor Henry has a delicate stomach and Stephen misbehaves – both posing additional challenges for their perfectionist mother!

Meanwhile, Lester is equally unhappy at work. A sensitive, empathetic man at heart, he lacks the skills for business, daydreaming instead of literature, poetry and the creative space to think. When Lester is passed over for promotion at Willing’s, he feels his lack of contribution to the family very keenly, especially given the shortage of money in the strained Knapp household.

Things come to a head when Lester is dealt a double blow. Firstly, he loses his job in a reorganisation at Willing’s; and secondly, a serious accident leaves him unable to walk, possibly permanently. However, it is this sequence of events that catalyses the family’s growth, transforming their fortunes for the better. With Lester incapacitated, Evangeline must find a job, forcing the role reversal I mentioned earlier in this piece. Luckily for the Knapps, Jerome Willing sees potential in Evangeline when she approaches him for a job, and he offers her the role of stock girl in the coveted Cloak-and-Suits department – a role she duly accepts.

One of the joys of this delightful novel is seeing how Evangeline flourishes in her new role. With her excellent organisational skills and keen attention to detail, she soon masters the stock room, going above and beyond the standard duties in her willingness to learn. Promotion to sales girl swiftly follows, enabling Evangeline to draw on her innate flair for style, steering customers to just the right garment or outfit to showcase their qualities at their best.

How much better Lester understood his wife after those few months of observing her in a life that suited her than after fourteen years of seeing her grimly and heroically enduring a life that did not. Was this Eva the same as the old one? This Eva who came in every evening tired, physically tired as he had never seen her, but appeased, satisfied, fulfilled… (p.181)

Meanwhile, back at home, Lester takes to life as a house-husband like a duck to water. Free from the constraints of the accounts departments, Lester has ample time to consider the children, seeking to understand them as individuals, pinpointing their needs and flexing his approach accordingly. He sees how Susan – a deep thinker – needs support to channel her ideas in a productive direction, allowing her to express herself instead of bottling everything up inside. He also understands how Henry – a steady, faithful, patient boy – would benefit from having a pet, subsequently persuading Evangeline to let the boy have a puppy (another great success). And finally, he establishes the root cause of Stephen’s naughtiness, quelling the boy’s fears about his teddy bear with patience and empathy. It’s a delight to see the children blossoming under their father’s care, all pulling together to manage the housework and cooking as best they can, devising solutions that work for them irrespective of conventional wisdom and traditional societal norms.

One of the many things that Canfield Fisher does so well here is to demonstrate the value of home-making, challenging any perceptions of it as inferior to (or less skilled than) a salaried job outside the home. 

‘Eva darned them a good many years,’ he [Lester] said, with some warmth, ‘and did the housework. Why shouldn’t I?’ He looked at her hard and went on, ‘Do you know what you are saying to me, Mattie Farnham? You are telling me that you really think that home-making is a poor, mean, cheap job beneath the dignity of anybody who can do anything else.’ (p.162)

The novel also raises some interesting questions about the nature and aims of home-making itself, particularly the materialistic desire to acquire new furnishings, gadgets and the like, fuelled by the emerging consumerist society. It adds a fascinating layer to this thought-provoking novel, especially given the Knapps’ opposing views on accumulating possessions. While Evangeline understands the morale boost a woman can gain from a well-chosen garment or piece of furnishing, Lester abhors the exploitation of our natural home-making instincts, seeing it as a consumerist machine – one that his wife, somewhat ironically, is helping to feed! For Lester, creating a happy, nurturing home is more important than the drive for new accessories, prioritising children’s needs over materialistic trappings.

But what sickened Lester was the unscrupulous exploitation of the home-making necessity, the adroit perversion of the home-making instinct. Jerome Willing wanted to make it appeal, hammering in the idea with all the ingenious variations of his advertising copy, that home-making had its beginning and end in good furniture, fine table-linen, expensive rugs… (p. 60)

Interestingly, Canfield Fisher seeds this potential source of friction in the story without bringing it to a head, cleverly leaving it to the reader to consider as part of the Knapps’ future.

Alongside the Knapps, Canfield Fisher shows us another example of a progressive family with the Willings – Jerome Willing, the new owner-manager of the department store, and his talented wife, Nell. With her creative copywriting skills, Nell has also carved out a role for herself at Willing’s, assuming responsibility for the store’s advertising, which clearly plays to her strengths. Meanwhile, Jerome focuses on buying and the day-to-day management of the business. If only he could find an efficient store manager – someone with a natural flair for customer experience and excellent organisational skills. Someone like Evangeline, perhaps, if her new position as head of Cloaks and Suits proves successful… 

As this excellent novel draws to a close, a new development in Lester’s health threatens to disturb the family’s new-found equilibrium, but I’ll leave you to discover that for yourself, should you decide to read the book.

In summary, then, The Home-Maker is a thoughtful, thought-provoking novel that challenges the conventional wisdom of traditional gender-based roles for a successful home and marriage. Canfield Fisher was clearly a radical thinker, prompting her readers to consider new ways to live, developing tailored solutions to suit their personal circumstances. It’s a beautiful, comforting novel, full of wisdom and intelligence, and I urge you to read it.

The Home-Maker is published by Persephone Books; personal copy. My second review for Karen and Lizzy’s Read Indies Month.