Joking apart

"Joking Apart" by Mrs. Dowdall is a story from the early 1900s that centers around Martha's funny observations about home life and how people relate to each other, especially her conversations with Aunt Mary and others around her. With a funny and questioning view, Martha looks at the silliness of life in a world full of social rules. The book starts with Martha talking to her aunt about her writing and the difficulty of showing real life in her stories. The story is told in a clear, humorous way, with Martha's opinions on daily events and people offering a witty and clever examination of social customs. The funny disapproval Martha receives from her aunt gives readers insight into Martha and her attitude toward the shallow and baffling things in life.