The Deepening Stream

''The Deepening Stream,'' published in 1930, is a semi-autobiographical novel by Dorothy Canfield Fisher widely regarded as her masterpiece and a significant, though often overlooked, work of World War I literature. The story follows the life of Penelope "Matey" Gilbert from her childhood into adulthood. Matey grows up in a household overshadowed by her parents' subtle but constant emotional conflict. Her family frequently moves between American academic towns and France. After her father's death, Matey moves to Rustdorf, New York, where she eventually marries Adrian Fort, a man who shares her deep love for France. When war breaks out, the couple makes the daring choice to move their young family to Paris to assist their French friends, the Vinets, and provide relief work for soldiers. The novel concludes with the family's return to America, finding a hard-won sense of peace after the exhaustion and trauma of the war.