Becoming a Woman of Substance, the sequel to Beguiled, finds Miriam Levine Butler at age 38, having had an epiphany. No longer could she mourn her lost years, dutifully taking care of her handicapped daughter, Alice. No longer would she bear the dismissive attitude of her once-adoring husband, Noel. No longer would she resort to unhealthy means of numbing herself. 

The Great Depression rages on and on in 1938. Her beloved son Aaron is in California, trying to be a screenwriter. Her immigrant mother, who now owns a grocery store, advises her daughter to “get out and do something. Do you want to end up like I did when you were a child? A nothing?”

Miriam heeds Ma’s warning. She ventures out of her purgatory and goes back to her old haunt, Romany Marie’s café, where she hears about the Federal Theatre Project and its daunting director, Hallie Flanagan. This launches her new life as she returns to her early love of theater, but this time as a field investigator of drought victims in the growing fields of California.

This still-beautiful and intelligent woman prospers on all fronts, finding engaging new work, friends, and a lover. Her early inclination to be self-absorbed and her desire to be a stage star, all dissolve as she finds fulfillment in helping others and expanding the circle of people she welcomes into her life. The backdrop of the Depression, racism, WWII, and the Holocaust challenge Miriam’s equanimity, but she finds new strength within herself. Follow Miriam’s journey to becoming a woman of substance as she confronts her fears and self-doubt, untrustworthy people, racial prejudice, and losses of loved ones.