Before she died, Roger Gales's wife, Judith, made him promise, "You will live on in our children's lives."

For years, he failed to keep that promise. Aching from grief, he sank inside himself, losing his faith and ignoring his three daughters. He awakened when they reached adulthood, and he attempted to reconnect with them.

It is not easy. Roger's children are fiercely independent and very different from one another. Each faces her own challenges.

- Edith is devoted to her five children, and sometimes hurts others to protect them.

- Laura embraces a liberated lifestyle to the extent that she hurts her husband.

- Deborah is committed to her career helping and teaching the poor immigrants of New York City, but neglects her personal relationships.

Conflicts arise due to the conflicting values and the changing society in early twentieth-century New York City. Each daughter has a very different view of the role of women in their world. The sudden death of a family member and two dangerous childbirths add to the stress, as does the economic strain that World War I places on Roger's business and the family's finances.

Ernest Poole's 1917 novel "His Family" won the very first Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, which was awarded in 1918. Although some have speculated that the committee used this prize to honor an earlier work of Poole's, this novel holds up well a century after its publication. The characters are strong, the conflicts are real, and the struggles of families, finances, and immigrants persist today.