The following version of this book was used to create the guide: Fuller, Claire. Unsettled Ground. Tin House, 2021.

Claire Fuller's novel Unsettled Ground is told from the third person point of view, and in the present tense. The narrative progresses in a linear fashion, following twins Jeanie and Julius Seed's lives in the year that elapses after their mother Dot's death. The author complicates this deceptively simple narrative structure with frequent shifts into the past. The following summary adheres to a primarily linear model.

Shortly after Dot and Frank Seed's marriage, they move into a cottage located in the rural English countryside. It is here that they give birth to and raise their twins, Jeanie and Julius. Throughout their childhood, the Seed children live in relative peace. Then, on the day before Frank turns 32, he dies in a gruesome tractor accident. Both Jeanie and Julius are present for his death, and the traumatic incident bonds them even closer together.

In the narrative present, Jeanie and Julius are 51 years old, and still living in the same cottage where they grew up. One morning they wake up to find Dot dead on the kitchen floor. Her unexpected death troubles and unsettles the twins. They had not even known their mother was ill. In the days following, they discover that all of their savings are gone, and that their mother accrued an impossible amount of debt with a series of locals. Jeanie and Julius are unsure how they will afford the funeral expenses, let alone repay their creditors.

Eventually, they bury Dot in the backyard, and try to formulate a plan for their own survival. They believe they will be able to recover from their loss, because their life at the cottage is secure. The owner of the cottage, Spencer Rawson, whom they call Rawson, made an arrangement with Dot years prior. Because of Rawson's alleged involvement in Frank's death, Rawson agreed to let the family stay on the property rent-free until their deaths. Therefore, when Rawson's wife, Caroline, tells Jeanie that they owe money on the cottage, and will soon be evicted, the twins begin to question everything about their family and their past.

Their mother's best friend, Bridget, invites the twins to stay with her and her husband, Stu, after they lose the cottage. After only one night at Bridget's, the twins realize they must secure an alternate arrangement. Julius finds them an abandoned caravan to stay in, much to Jeanie's disappointment. The caravan is dilapidated and nearly unlivable.

In the days and weeks following, Julius begins spending more and more time away. Jeanie feels abandoned and alone. Her childhood heart disease seems to worsen as well, and she fears spending so much time by herself.

Then one night, Rawson visits the caravan. He tells Jeanie that he and Dot had a longtime affair, and were deeply in love. He apologizes for his wife's hostility, and invites her to move back into the cottage. Furious, Jeanie tells him to leave. Then she hears a gunshot somewhere outside. She stumbles around in the dark after Rawson's departure, and finds Julius lying in the dark with three wounds in his head. Julius survives his surgery, but loses an eye and suffers brain damage from the gunshot wounds.

A year later, Jeanie and Julius are moved back into the cottage. Bridget remains a constant friend. Jeanie takes her advice and goes for a doctor's visit. When she speaks to the doctor about her results, Jeanie learns that she never had heart disease, and is in good health. Initially, she is furious with Dot for having lied to her. However, the revelation soon compels Jeanie towards reconciliation with her past.