Her son's wife

Mary Bascomb, a perfectionist who specializes in ordering other people's lives, is shocked into reexamining her ideals when her idolized son marries and brings to their home a cheap, vulgar girl. After their daughter, Dids, is born, Mary fights for Dids to free her from her mother's influence. By the end of the novel, Dids has grown up to be a fine young woman on her way to the university, and Mary has gained the maturity she needs to be a friend to her son's wife.