The main protagonist, Millie, has married into the Bott family who live in a south suburb of London called Titford. The novel begins with the death of Millie’s husband, Earnest, who had in his Will written her out of his substantial fortune when he discovered her long standing affair with one, Arthur. The rest of the novel deals with Millie’s attempts to expiate her sin but which are thwarted by the obsession of the surviving Bott family members with maintaining their good name in Titford.
