Introduction
"Americans have little faith. They rely on the power of the dollar," said Ralph Waldo Emerson, the great nineteenth century American poet, essayist and philosopher. And more recently, the poet-humorist Ogden Nash said: "Certainly, there are lots of things that money won't buy, but it's very funny-Have you ever tried to buy them without money?"
All things considered, it seems probable that modern Americans spend more time thinking, talking and writing about money than any other people at any time in history. Money, or the lack of it, is an ever-present concern. And while the acquisition of large sums of money makes sweeping changes in the lives of many of us, those changes are not always the ones we would predict.
In a perceptive new book, Wealth: the Passport to Sexual Excess, Clark Gifford puts it this way: "One of the most important aspects of personal adjustment is the cultural role with which the individual identifies and which provides him with a life-style and a pattern which guides him in action. He is spared the trauma of constant dislocation and disorientation by the framework which his cultural role provides for him. Obviously, such a cultural role as is provided by the highest and wealthiest level of society is much different from those that may be afforded at other levels of society.
"As a result of this difference in social and cultural identification the problems and ability to tolerate problems will be often quite markedly different from those in a different social setting, not only in financial ability to meet these problems but in the very strength of the individual's ability to face up to them and overcome them. Strength or weakness of the individual may well be conditioned over the long period by the social milieu in which he lives. Removing a person from one environment and subjecting him to a new one may result in a completely altered ability to deal with a particular problem.
"A great deal may depend on whether a person has been raised in the setting of wealth and stability or whether he has only recently elevated himself (or been elevated) into the upper classes. The very rich, with their access to the very best in education, have a means of inculcating a standard, uniform outlook on life and living. This may prove to be either a strength or a weakness, depending on how it prepares a person for living outside of those conditions. And, depending upon the individual circumstances, the brains and effort required to gain entrance into the upper classes may give a person the training and discipline that cannot be acquired by any means but hard work."
Wealth, of course, is a comparative thing. Housewife for Blackmail, the new novel by Marshall Roberts that you are about to read, is not about extremely rich people. It is, however, about people who have suddenly become rich by any standards they have known in the past. It is, to be precise, about two young couples who have arrived at positions that could certainly be described as well-to-do-but who have arrived there by very different means indeed.
Sheila Baines, a girl who has known a lifetime of poverty, has recently married Scott Baines, a struggling young stockbroker. Scott's own life has been one of very hard work, but the fruits of his labors have begun to appear as he applies them in the generally wealthy community of Carmel, California. Sheila and Scott now have all the money they really need, but that does not mean they have no problems. In fact, Scott is working so hard that he has little time for anything else, which creates problems for Sheila, who finds herself frustrated and unhappy.
The other couple, Mike Curtis and Marsha Evans, are making money hand over fist by the much less respectable method of making pornographic movies. They are hedonistic swingers, typical of today's most amoral younger generation. They do not for a moment doubt their ability to enjoy their newfound riches to the hilt. But, in a strange way, Sheila's problem becomes a problem for them, too. Their lives are inextricably interwoven.
Sheila knew Mike and Marsha before marrying Scott and trying to adopt a new life-style. She knew them intimately, and was a swinger right along with them when they were all poor. They do not believe she has really changed, and they particularly do not believe she should have changed. Once a swinger, always a swinger is their philosophy. They are hurt at the idea of having "lost" Sheila, jealous of her new way of living, and insulted because they think she has snubbed them. They are determined to bring her back down to their level, force her to take part in their nefarious activities, and return to the wild, swinging existence with them. If blackmail is what it will take to recapture her, then blackmail is what they will use.
And Sheila, indeed, finds there are many things money won't buy as she struggles with these new problems. Money, obviously, has created problems for her and given her no corresponding solutions. Whether there are any eventual solutions or not the reader will discover in this gripping, penetrating novel-which is very much a document for our money-oriented and frequently puzzling times.
The Publishers Chatsworth, Cal. January, 1973