The Robber Bride

When Mrs. Morley loses her job, she despairs over how to pay her rent. One day after school, Roz comes home and finds Mrs. Morley’s clothes, shoes, and underwear scattered across the front lawn. Having discovered her husband with Mrs. Morley, Roz’s mother throws her out along with all of her possessions. Later, as a teenager, Roz understands that Mrs. Morley was her father’s mistress, but she forgives him for it.

Roz recalls how her parents met. While coming home from the grocery store, her mother sees four men beating another man—her future husband—outside of a bar. Normally a reserved woman, she screams and enters the fray, swinging her grocery bags until the police arrive. Roz understands how saving a man and nursing him back to health as her mother did could lead to romance. They marry but not in a Church.

Eventually, the other roomers move out, and George and Joe move into their rooms. They do not pay rent and Roz’s father is unemployed, but rent money mysteriously appears. George and Joe teach Roz how to play poker, and they sometimes take her to the racetrack. One day, her father brings home a large sum of money, clothes, and a new car.