An incredibly poor family in Manhattan in the 1920s has an oaf of a father who does nothing but read the Torah and expects his wife and four daughters to work to make money. He's not only lazy and selfish, he's also mean and abusive. One of the daughters, Sarah, decides that this mess isn't for her, so she leaves, works hards—bootstraps and all that—and makes something of herself. An interesting, eventful, historic read.