Summary
Barbara, a languid magnolia chafing against the pollen-dusted inertia of a Carolina backwater, weds Johnny Lester—glorified valet to the copper-baron Mr. Ellis—mistaking proximity to power for power itself. When Ellis summarily ejects Johnny from his gilded orbit, the couple’s marital façade collapses in a New York winter of pawn-shop coats and threadbare promises. Ellis, ever the connoisseur of vulnerability, circles back to Barbara with silk-gloved predation; she, half-starved for ascendancy, succumbs, trading conjugal duty for ballroom chandeliers until divorce papers sail like black confetti. Cast out and stripped of illusion, she barters the only collateral left—her own resolve—convincing the velvet-pocketed financier Brookes to bankroll a millinery salon where feathers, veils, and self-determination are sewn into every seam. Profits bloom until Brookes arrives to collect his unspoken tariff: her body. In a cataclysm of hatpins and splintered mannequins, Barbara razes the emporium rather than her dignity, then strides back to Johnny whose forgiveness is less sentiment than verdict: she has purchased, with ash and epiphany, the right to begin again.
Synopsis
Tired of her boring life in a small Southern town, Barbara marries Johnny Lester, social secretary to the wealthy Mr. Ellis, in the belief that he will provide her with wealth and social standing. Her plan backfires, however, when Ellis fires Johnny. Johnny is unsuccessfully seeking employment in New York when Ellis makes overtures to Barbara, who accepts his attentions, finally leading to a divorce from her husband. Concluding that the only way to make money is to earn it, Barbara obtains financial backing from Brookes, a wealthy friend, to open a millinery establishment. The store is prospering when Brookes appears and demands payment in flesh. Barbara, in a rage, spurns him, wrecks the store, and returns to Johnny who, satisfied that she has learned her lesson, forgives her.
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