Big Blonde

The protagonist, Hazel Morse, is a buxom blond woman approaching her 30s. She lives in New York City in the 1920s. Little information is provided about her formative years or her family other than the fact that her widowed mother died when Hazel was in her 20s. After this, Hazel finds work as a model in the garment industry, a job that gives her ample opportunity to meet and mingle with her many male customers—which she excels at. Because of her bubbly personality, Hazel becomes known as a “good sport” and never has problems attracting men. When she isn’t working, most of her time is spent with one or more of her potential suitors and a group of women who have similar interests. Hazel doesn’t have much self-awareness and seems resigned to her fate as a “bottle blonde”: “She never pondered if she might not be better occupied doing something else” (2).

As she approaches age 30, she becomes smitten with Herbie Morse, whom she marries after a whirlwind romance. Their initial months of marriage seem idyllic, but discord soon erupts. Hazel doesn’t understand the sudden downturn in her marriage and fails to realize that her mercurial moods may be at least partly to blame.