April’s Title Pick for Adults: The Home-Maker by Dorothy Canfield Fisher

The Home-Maker is an American novel first published in 1924 and rediscovered and published in the UK by Persephone Books in 1999. It has been read and savoured in The Reader’s Shared Reading groups for many years. Most summaries of the plot will tell you how pioneering and ground-breaking this novel was when it was written and first published, because it sympathetically shows how a woman could find a deeper sense of happiness and purpose from her career, rather than from her traditional role of wife and mother. The novel would be interesting and valuable if it only provoked these discussions about gender and the roles and expectations of men and women. But it is particularly suited for the close, careful reading that can happen in a Shared Reading group because of the passionate interest the novel has in the relationships and dynamics of family life, and its portrayal of the ways in which, slowly and surely, we are shaped by those closest to us. This in turns draws out memories, thoughts and feelings in readers about their own lives that might otherwise remain unspoken, or forgotten. The perspective of every member of the Knapp household is faithfully portrayed, the feelings of parent or child have equal weight, steering any reader away from hasty judgements or lazy assumptions about this lovingly created group.

When the story begins, Evangeline’s considerable creative and administrative powers are painfully compressed – she forces them into narrow parameters of domestic achievement: keeping her home spotlessly clean, her children quiet and dutiful and well-dressed, putting perfectly cooked suppers on the table at precisely the same time each night. This is all to do with ‘keeping up appearances’ in front of friends and acquaintances, but Eva’s standards are impossibly high, and those friends and neighbours are in fact embarrassed or repelled by them. Eva’s husband, Lester, is equally stultified in his job in advertising, which does not suit his quiet and poetic nature. All the members of the Knapp family, the children included, are mentally and physically suffering because of the parents’ mutual unhappiness. When Lester has an accident that leaves him housebound and partially paralysed, Eva must be the breadwinner, giving her the chance to become the dynamic and dedicated saleswoman she was born to be, while her children flourish in their increased independence and under the patient, gentle attentions of their father.

We see through the eyes of all the characters as they cook, clean, go to work, lie awake at night or try and make themselves understood. Because of this tender attention to the warp and weft of daily life – even if the details of it don’t match our modern daily life - members of Shared Reading groups have found much to sympathise and identify with in this novel. The joys and pains of parenthood are powerfully drawn, as is the excitement of ambition and the sense of creative possibility that can come from a job we love, while the deep attachment a small boy feels for his teddy is evoked with equal intensity.

Emma Taylor, Shared Reading Practice Lead, started an online group for new parents in 2020 via a partnership with the Parents in Mind service. She told The Reader magazine about the group in the article ‘A Blessing for We Who Are Exhausted’ (issue 76):

‘It has been wonderful to see their confidence grow as we’ve read together, how they’ve opened up about how hard it is to raise young children. There has been a lot of laughter which has meant that when the tears come, everyone has felt supported and safe.’

Emma went on to describe the experience of reading from The Home-Maker:

‘It expressed so vividly what the group members were all going through, but from the perspectives of the child and both parents too – all the frustrations and the joy and beauty of trying to keep a child safe but also let it grow and learn.’

Meanwhile, in a library in Wales, reading an extract from The Home-Maker brought a Shared Reading group closer together:

‘A wonderful session - the extract opened a discussion about children and one of the participants was able to feel supported by the others regarding an experience they are coping with. It felt like a privilege to be able to be generous with our time and really listen to them. They said they felt better after for having been able to share.’

From young parents to a care home on the Wirral, where the Reader Leader reports how a resident’s attention was held by an extract from the novel:

‘Another attendee who nearly always falls asleep in the group very early on was completely engaged this week and really enjoyed the humorous side of The Home-Maker extract, laughing out loud at young Stephen's antics during the reading.’

Finally, from a community library Shared Reading group, who read the novel from cover to cover, the Reader Leader sums up why The Home-Maker has endured to spark so many great moments in Shared Reading groups over the years:

‘We finished reading this book today, and the group have universally enjoyed it. We particularly liked the way that the husband and wife characters, Evangeline and Lester, are not painted as either monster or hero - both are flawed and complex. Our sympathies wavered between the two, and we spent a lot of time discussing how the domestic and commercial worlds looked from each perspective. There was a lot of talk from the group about how they were raised by their parents, and how they in turn tried to raise their own children. People were open about the mistakes they felt that they had made, and some regrets they had. Lots of fascinating discussions on a weekly basis.’

By Frances Macmillan (Literature Engagement Lead at The Reader)