The story follows a sanctimonious churchwoman whose meticulous death-book and social pretensions shape family life in a small Maine town, and centers on her relationship with her far-traveled son whose return sets in motion tensions over marriage, religious authority, and community reform. Through incidents including pastoral visits, a contested church pastorate, a neighborhood burglary, a woodland picnic, revelations by a local man named H. Robinson, and the reappearance of a wanderer, various characters confront hypocrisy, mixed loyalties, and efforts at reconciliation. The narrative balances local color and social satire with themes of moral rigidity, compassion, and the slow mending of fractured family and congregational ties.