Chapter 9 Summary and Analysis

Kay and Phil's first home is a small, unfurnished, eighty-dollar-a-month rental outside Georgetown. Phil is horrified that Kay wants to become a housewife and suggests they hire Mattie Jeffres to keep house and cook. He earns $3,600 a year, and she earns $1,500. Also, they enjoy a $500 wedding-present cushion. Kay learns to live on a new scale. Mattie's presence retards Kay's learning basic domestic skills, but Kay is determined to live up to the agreement to live within their means, even if it means looking quite dowdy during her first pregnancy. Old and new friends enrich their lives, but the dominant influence remains Frankfurter, who revels in arguing, gossiping and irreverence. Phil is kept busy at the Court, so Kay immerses herself in writing for the "Brains" section of the Sunday Post and joins the Women's National Press Corps. The local newspaper wars...