Avery Denys, the novels heroine, lost her husband and her blind daughter. But in response to these tragic events, Avery simply reflects that she was left with nothing to do, and finds a job that allows her to act out the mother role she now misses.
A rock to her female friends, Avery is rational yet caring, but also submissive in the face of her eventual second husbands violence towards her and others. The Bars of Iron (1916) is an excellent bestsellers book in the United States in 1916 for individuals who are looking for the best one to read.
