Summary

After Carol left Joe, she went with her daughter to California to live with her mother. Joe and Joan then left Smith College together and temporarily resided in a hotel in New York City. Joan encouraged Joe to write, and neither one of them talked anymore about the possibility of Joan herself doing any writing. Joan found a job as an assistant in a publishing house called Bower & Leeds. They occasionally attended parties hosted by Joe’s various literary friends. At these parties, Joan often heard men praise the works of male writers and speak with derision about female writers. The men often behaved in misogynistic ways towards Joan. One day, after having no success with short stories, Joe decided that he had to write a novel in order to have any success. Joan’s parents deeply disapproved of her and Joe’s relationship...