A reflective young woman named Diana May grows up in a comfortably respectable household, habitually wondering about the meaning of life and her place within it. The narrative traces her inner struggles, family dynamics with a complacent father and resigned mother, and her wide reading in science and spiritual ideas. When she becomes involved in a speculative scientific experiment promising dramatic personal change, the events force confrontations between vanity, moral responsibility, and social expectation. The novel blends psychological portraiture, moral and philosophical reflection, and a speculative premise to examine identity, ambition, and the consequences of attempting to alter nature.