John Builder is a prosperous provincial businessman whose polished household begins to crack under the pressure of family rebellion and public ambition. When his reserved wife Julia reveals that their daughter Athene has left home after a quarrel, Builder is forced to confront the gap between appearances, duty, and the life he believes he controls. Soon the Mayor of Breconridge arrives to sound him out for civic office, and Builder's modesty gives way to visible delight at the prospect of prestige. But domestic unease keeps intruding. Builder's encounters with the quick-witted French maid Camille and the increasingly defiant Maud expose his vanity, his susceptibility to flattery, and his rigid ideas about women, marriage, and "reality." As Athene's independence deepens into scandal, the family is drawn into a maze of suspicion, secrecy, and comic misunderstanding, culminating in the revelation that she has married Guy Herringhame. Meanwhile, Maud announces her own escape into the movies, determined to earn her own living and live by her own terms. Sharp, witty, and unsparing, A Family Man examines respectability, authority, and the quiet revolt of a family no longer willing to be ruled. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.