The dark at the top of the stairs
(Book)

"The setting is a small Oklahoma town in the early 1920s and the home of the Flood family: Rubin, a traveling salesman for a harness firm; Cora his sensitive and lovely wife; Sonny, their little boy; and Reenie their teen-age daughter. The plot consists of a series of short stories -- the fight between husband and wife; the fear of an overly shy young girl on going to a dance; the problems of an introverted little boy who feels that the whole world is against him; the corroding marriage of Cora's rowdy sister; and the tragedy of a military school cadet who suffers from the stigma of being a Jew in an alien community. The play's message is that there is dark at the top of everyone's stairs, but that it can be dissipated by understanding, tolerance, and compassion."