This novel follows the lives of three women through the decades from the twenties to the turn of the century and explores the changes that have occurred in both the expectations and experiences of women during these decades.
There is Alice, a fun-loving flapper of the twenties, who marries Robert during the Depression years. She faces the difficulties of feeding and clothing her growing family during the years of war and resultant rationing but basically is happy in her life's role as a wife and mother.
Their third daughter Liz marries charismatic, ambitious Rod and gives up her teaching position when she becomes pregnant with their first child. She is a dependent wife and mother during the fifties and sixties but leaves the marriage to begin a new life of self-sufficiency in the country with a new love.
Helen is her daughter and is quite seriously affected by her parent's divorce. As she matures she becomes typical of the young women of her generation, in that she sees sexual freedom, independence and equality at work and in relationships as her right.
A major theme is the importance the preparation and serving of food is in the lives of women and how shared meals are so much a part of celebratory times in one's life. Many aspects of food preparation are covered including the difficulty of providing nourishing family meals when many food items are rationed, the fun of entertaining friends and family and the sharing of meals, the challenge of growing and collecting food as part of a self-sustainable lifestyle.