The House of Torchy

Newly married Torchy arrives in Vermont with Vee and quickly discovers how many small blunders a honeymoon can hold. At the Ottasumpsit Inn, a missed detail in the hotel register is followed by another difficulty: the established guests seem determined to ignore the young couple. Vee takes their situation more calmly, and their teasing conversation gives the opening its cheerful pace. Sewell Ford tells the story through Torchy's slang-filled first-person voice, making awkward introductions and social distinctions part of the comedy.

The New York setting and episodes of married life widen the book's range beyond its winter holiday. A later scene brings Torchy into a dispute over a proposed strike, where his talk with Anna, a cinema ticket seller from Poland, takes an urgent turn. The mixture of household concerns, quick dialogue and public affairs gives readers a view of everyday relationships through a narrator with a taste for quick jokes.