Summary
Amidst the suffocating expectations of provincial America, Abby Hopkins – eldest daughter in a newspaper dynasty drowning in genteel poverty – becomes sacrificial lamb to familial ambition. Pressured into nuptials with J.B. Hanks, a corpulent plutocrat whose previous wives lie cold in the cemetery, she flees during the wedding reception's drunken revelry. Manhattan's grimy embrace offers refuge: a waitress's uniform, shared tenement quarters with fellow escapee Molly, and the electric hum of autonomy. Her world tilts when soused thespian J. Booth Hunter stumbles into her diner – all florid gestures and whiskey breath, a Shakespeare-quoting ruin. Abby's crusade to sober him evolves into complex interdependence. Hanks reappears, demanding his chattel, culminating in a physical confrontation where Hunter's fist connects with patriarchal entitlement. Freedom is hard-won: divorce papers, Hunter's detoxification through sheer will, and an unconventional union forged not from obligation but defiant choice.
Synopsis
Abby Hopkins, the eldest of a small-town newspaper-owner's five daughters, is urged by her family to marry the wealthy, twice-widowed J.B. Hanks. Abby leaves Hank on the night of the wedding and goes to New York, where she supports herself as a waitress and shares an apartment with a co-worker. At the restaurant, Abby meets J. Booth Hunter, a heavy-drinking "ham" actor, and tries to convince him to give up liquor. Hanks shows up one day and during a battle with his estranged wife, Hunter comes to Abby's rescue. Abby finally gets a divorce from Hanks, Hunter conquers his drinking habit, and Abby marries him.
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