The son of a wealthy inventor is incarcerated in a Santa Barbara mental hospital because of a psychosexual disorder that makes him attack women on sight. His male nurse is a womanizing alcoholic, and his long-suffering and devoted wife never loses hope for his recovery. This novel is based on the true story of Stanley McCormick (heir to the McCormick Reaper fortune) and his suffragist wife, Katherine. A New York Times Notable Book for 1998.