A second novel by the author of Main Line continues his social history of Philadelphia surburban life, extending, this time, from 1938 to the present day and following Alicia Cameron's debut into maturity. Sensitive and shy, she responds to her mother's domination without question, blindly is led into an engagement with assured, demanding Dick Blake, but is waked enough to break it after a sequence of scenes at a Princeton party and is imprisoned by her mother's venom. Her father is instrumental in helping her to go overseas with the Red Cross and in Italy she really falls in love. But Tony, using her as a crutch, and recovered from his war neurosis, only tells her of his wife and child when he leaves. Then comes Nat, a pet artist of her mother's, and, on their return with the announcement of their engagement, Alicia's mother cracks and uses hysteria to try to prevent their marriage. But Nat and Alicia's love is strong enough to avoid danger and they escape, safely, back to Italy where Nat is to teach. The psychological and social problems here are observant but present no rewarding probe for the serious reader.