Hazel Morse works as a dress model in New York City and becomes known among men as a fun-loving 'good sport.'

Hazel meets Herbie Morse, a charming hard-drinking salesman, and falls into a whirlwind six-week romance.

Hazel and Herbie marry, thrilling Hazel, who is nearing 30 and eager to embrace domesticity.

Herbie grows annoyed by Hazel's gloomy moods and begins spending his evenings away from home drinking.

Hazel and Herbie's arguments escalate into physical violence, leaving Hazel with a black eye on one occasion.

A neighbor named Mrs. Martin moves across the hall and draws Hazel into her circle of hard-drinking companions.

Herbie abruptly announces he is leaving for a job in another city, and he and Hazel share a final farewell drink.

After Herbie's departure, Ed — one of Mrs. Martin's companions — pursues Hazel aggressively and the two become lovers.

Ed arranges for Hazel to move into a new apartment and provides her with a maid and a regular allowance.

Ed relocates to Florida after nearly three years together, leaving Hazel with money and stock shares.

Hazel cycles through a string of suitors she meets at a speakeasy called Jimmy's, depending on them for financial support.

Hazel's depression worsens severely until she begins fixating on death by suicide as her only escape from life.

Hazel secretly travels to New Jersey to purchase the sedative veronal from multiple pharmacies without arousing suspicion.

After her suitor Art leaves on a business trip, Hazel swallows all of her stored veronal pills.

Hazel's maid Nettie finds her unresponsive in bed, gets her revived, and Hazel wakes up to face a bleak future.

Hazel Morse is a popular dress model and social 'good sport' in New York City who marries Herbie Morse after a whirlwind six-week romance. Their marriage quickly sours as Herbie grows impatient with Hazel's depression and the couple falls into a pattern of drinking and violence. After Herbie abandons her, Hazel enters a long arrangement with a man named Ed, who provides financial support in exchange for her cheerful company. When Ed also departs, Hazel drifts through a string of suitors at a speakeasy called Jimmy's, relying on men and alcohol to survive. Her deepening depression drives her to secretly obtain the sedative veronal and attempt suicide while her latest suitor is away on a trip. Hazel survives the overdose and wakes up facing the bleak prospect of continuing her joyless life.

The headline story of Hazel Morse's marriage, decline, and attempted suicide.

Hazel's widowed mother dies while Hazel is in her twenties, leaving her without any family.

Several men from out of town propose to Hazel, but she dismisses them all as unsuitable marriage material.

Hazel settles happily into early married life, relieved to finally drop the exhausting performance of being a 'good sport.'

Herbie actively encourages Hazel to drink with him on their nights out, urging her to 'get boiled.'

Hazel anxiously reads magazine stories about wives losing their husbands' love, convinced her own marriage is failing.

Hazel begins drinking alone at home during the day to cope with Herbie's long and frequent absences.

Hazel becomes the favorite of Ed at Mrs. Martin's evening poker games, with Ed generously staking her bets.

Ed asks Hazel for a photograph so he can look at her image when he is away from her.

Hazel runs into Mrs. Martin at Jimmy's speakeasy and learns that Herbie has settled contentedly with a new woman.

Art, a short fat silk salesman, becomes Hazel's last suitor and is frequently impatient with her gloom.

Hazel reads newspaper accounts of suicides obsessively, feeling kinship with those she calls 'the voluntary dead.'

Hazel considers various methods of ending her life — guns, gas, razor blades — before concluding that poison is the most appealing.

An acquaintance at Jimmy's tells Hazel that the sedative veronal, taken in large quantities, can cause death.

Hazel places the vials of veronal in her dressing-table drawer, finding quiet comfort in simply knowing they are there.

Hazel receives a postcard from Art in Detroit cheerfully instructing her to 'cheer up' and stop being gloomy.

Hazel's story begins with small but significant details: the early death of her widowed mother, the out-of-town proposals she dismissed, and the unexpected relief she felt when marriage freed her from the performance of constant cheerfulness. Herbie's active encouragement of her drinking and her anxious reading of magazine stories about failing marriages reveal the hidden pressures eroding their relationship from within. After Herbie's departure, Hazel's bond with Ed takes shape through quieter gestures — his request for her photograph, his generous staking of her bets at poker. Years later, a chance encounter with Mrs. Martin at a speakeasy confirms that Herbie has contentedly moved on, marking Hazel's final emotional release from her marriage. As her depression deepens, Hazel methodically researches and plans her suicide, storing pills in her drawer before Art's cheerful postcard from Detroit — telling her to 'cheer up' — arrives after her failed attempt.

The quieter details and overlooked moments that shape Hazel's tragic trajectory.

Hazel begins peroxiding her darkening hair as she approaches 30, desperate to preserve her identity as a blonde.

After marrying Herbie, Hazel discovers that domesticity means she can finally express sadness without pretending to be cheerful.

Herbie initially responds to Hazel's sad moods with patience but soon grows cold and tells her to 'stop crabbing.'

Hazel and Herbie fall into a vicious cycle of bitter fights, tearful apologies, and broken promises to start fresh.

In a desperate bid to save her marriage, Hazel alters her old clothes to fit and joins Herbie on his nights out.

When Herbie departs, Hazel realizes she has become financially dependent and must now survive by attracting new male supporters.

On the same day Herbie leaves, Hazel shifts her affections smoothly toward Ed with little hesitation or grief.

Hazel declares she is 'through with housekeeping stuff' when she moves into the apartment Ed arranges for her.

Hazel recognizes that she and the other women at Jimmy's all share the same goal: finding one man to pay their bills.

Hazel begins to feel that whiskey has stopped working, sensing alcohol has betrayed her like a friend refusing a simple favor.

On a walk outside, Hazel sees a horse being brutally whipped by its driver and plunges into uncontrollable despair.

Art dismisses Hazel's anguish over the horse and coldly tells her to go home, sleep it off, and cheer up.

Hazel retreats to her apartment and drinks heavily alone for several days before deciding the time has come to act.

Hazel wakes from the overdose to find herself still alive, overwhelmed by visions of a bleak, joyless future stretching endlessly ahead.

Hazel asks Nettie to pour her a drink and quietly hopes that whiskey will finally be 'her friend again.'

From the moment Hazel begins peroxiding her hair to hide her age to the moment she wakes after her overdose, this pool traces the internal turning points that define her story. Her marriage initially offers genuine relief — she can finally stop performing cheerfulness — but this freedom quickly becomes a source of conflict as Herbie reacts to her real moods with impatience and cruelty. Hazel's frantic attempts to save her marriage reveal her desperation, while her effortless shift to Ed on the very day Herbie leaves shows how thoroughly she has detached from genuine feeling. Her growing recognition that whiskey has stopped working marks a crucial threshold, signaling that her last coping mechanism has failed her. The sight of a horse being brutally whipped in the street becomes the emotional breaking point that propels her toward action. Hazel emerges from her failed attempt into a future she dreads, clinging only to the hope that alcohol might once again offer some small comfort.