The story is set in Meldrum, a small town in the smallest state, Rhode Island. For Jenny, having been brought up in city surroundings, small-town life is a completely new experience.

She finds that her back yard is contiguous with that of the neighbors, and on her first night in her new house she is frightened to see someone standing under a near-by tree. She also learns to her surprise that everyone in the town knows everyone else, and indeed most people seem to be somehow related to each other. Whether actually related or not, they know all about each other's lives, and gossip is a well-cultivated art. There are some exquisite scenes of local life, as when Jenny attends a dinner party at the elegant household of the well-to-do Firbelle family. The New England food from clam chowder to pumpkin pie, the furniture and fireplace, the family...