Diverging Roads

Diverging Roads, set sometime between 1912 and 1919, is one of Lane’s earliest published novels (1919). It is somewhat autobiographical and depicts the life of Helen Davies.

We meet Helen when she is about to graduate from high school and is in love with a fellow student, Paul. Both of their families are struggling financially. Paul must support his widowed mother; he begins work immediately—and over the course of the novel proves to be a good, hard-working man whose greatest ambition is to provide for his loved ones, Helen included.

Initially, Helen doesn’t want to work, but her family needs money. Also, she hopes that her working might hasten the day when she and Paul can marry. But Helen is naïve when she leaves for Sacramento to learn telegraphy.

This book is gently feministic—we see Helen struggle against prejudice and poverty, and also discover her own indomitable spirit. She pursues telegraphy, then real estate, and finally writing. She makes mistakes, learns from them, and eventually comes to a solid understanding of her own nature.

Lane is a wonderful storyteller. She paints vivid pictures of the world Helen encounters and the work she pursues. While touching on sensitive topics such as a woman’s role in the world, the novel is never mean-spirited. It is an uplifting tale of one woman’s journey along the many paths life presents her.