Chapter 3, The Flip & The Lady Summary and Analysis

The author states that to him it seemed all-too clear that the community wanted to somehow blot out the relationship between Ruth and Charlie Doig once it was over. The reason is probably because they had a relationship that did not turn into a remarriage. Perhaps people weren't sure what to make of their business venture or this strange situation involving "nonmonogamous" people.

Ruth was a woman from a poor family who had needed to or chosen to work. The options for women were even more limited than those of men. Therefore she worked as a cook and housekeeper. Unmarried men often found that they needed to hire a woman who was not their lover to take care of the women's work whenever there was not a wife. Ruth was a woman of...