The New Morality

The New Morality, by Harold Chapin, takes us aboard a houseboat on a fashionable reach of the Thames in 1911, the hottest summer on record. Betty Jones has been simmering for weeks, watching her husband make an ass of himself by dancing attendance on their neighbor, Muriel Wister. Betty, “an amazing mixture of spitfire, penitent and hussy,” finally boils over and tells Muriel exactly what she thinks of her—using bad language. Chapin’s “most delicious of light comedies” tells the story of Mr. Wister’s pursuit of an apology on behalf of his wife, and Betty’s absolute refusal to oblige.