Ada Fincastle bears a child out of wedlock and eventually marries a man who is chronically depressed as well as unfaithful to her. In the course of the novel, she learns that romantic love is a false concept but resolves to preserve her marriage for the sake of their children. The other protagonist in this panoramic novel, a minister turned agnostic philosopher, is presented, in his old age, as an altruistic man who strives to move beyond purely personal concerns and approaches true wisdom and holiness. This novel, a best seller in 1935, graphically portrays Glasgow`s lifelong refusal to fall for what she saw as the myth of romantic love and her belief that women must look beyond love, marriage, and childbearing for meaning and purpose.