This volume includes two early books by American novelist, playwright and poet. Evelyn Scott. A modernist and experimental writer, she was a significant literary figure in the 1920s and 1930s.In the Narrow House, Mr. and Mrs. Farley find themselves trapped in a loveless marriage, but are unable to find a way out. An excellent novel, D.H Lawrence was so impressed with this he wrote to its author and praised it repeatedly to friends, as did Sinclair Lewis.

This novel was followed by Narcissus (1922), included in this volume, and The Golden Door (1925), which completed her first trilogy using the theme of the loveless conventional marriage. It is called "The New Woman" trilogy.