Overview

Revised Version. It is St. Louis in 1919 and five women are gathered awaiting the return of the family's men from the war in Europe. The central character is Liz, a youngish, gutsy, widowed woman faced with selling the family farm to pay debts. With her are her four daughters, one dying of tuberculosis, one who's married into a society family, another who's a blooming activist and the youngest on the brink of discovering sex and losing her innocence in general. As the play unfolds, it's apparent that 1919 is a watershed year in America's history. There are hints of the country heading uncertainly towards a new and different way of life. But essentially, it is about the social and psychological state of women and the painful solitude imposed by that state. Then at the end, a telegram arrives stating that the family's only son has died, a victim of one of war's side effects.