The story takes place in a New England village in the early 1900s. Miss Polly Harrington has received word that her eleven-year-old niece has been orphaned, and the "Ladies Aid" wants Miss Polly to take Pollyanna into her home. Pollyanna is the daughter of Miss Polly's sister, who married a very poor young minister against the wishes of her wealthy family and was disowned. When the story begins, Miss Polly—the aristocratic Harrington family's only living descendant besides Pollyanna—is a rich, lonely spinster who feels obligated to care for her niece. Pollyanna arrives in Beldingsville, Vermont, and over the course of the novel not only has a dramatic effect on all those who live in' the "big house on the hill," but also transforms the whole village from a rather stern, aloof town to a concerned, caring, and considerably more cheerful community.