Home, Kathleen: From Swampoodle to Manhasset

Home, Kathleen is a creative non-fiction story of Kathleen Mahoney's relationship with her husband Glenn Watson Payne during the first half of the 1900s. Daughter of an Irish stone mason in Washington, D.C., Kathleen admires the handsome Glenn Payne for his scientific genius in the new field of radio and marries him for a better financial future. However, tempted by the passion and freedom of the roaring 1920s in New York City, she falls for another man, divorces Glenn, and joins the nightclub world of Broadway and Billy Rose. To escape Glenn's pursuit, she and her children return to The District where she expects to find a new, pliant husband of means. Unfortunately, she falls on hard times during the Depression and so must elude her debts by moving back to Brooklyn and reconciling with Glenn. Even while she admires his brilliance and his promotions to upper management in GE and RCA, her strong personality continually disrupts their marital harmony. Overall, the story is told from Kathleen's later reflection during her return trip to New Jersey.