"When Clarence Wilmot, a Presbyterian clergyman in early-twentieth century New Jersey, suddenly realizes he no longer believes in God, he resolves to leave the pulpit to remain true to himself/ Quitting his jhob, he becomes instead an encyclopedia salesman and a motion picture addict with crumbling self-respect. Clarence's own son Theodore, deeply aware of the pain that faith has caused the family grows up to be an agnostic with little ambition. But after Theodore marries a crippled Methodist girl, the pair have a beautiful and ambitious daughter, full of faith and confidence, who will herself become an object of secular worship: Alma DeMott, a screen goddess with a tangled private life." - Back cover.