This is about a young woman in a small town around the turn of the last century who falls in love and runs off with a married man. Most of the story takes place 11 years later, when she returns to the town because her father is dying. The book sensitively explores the effect her actions had on her family, herself, her friends, even the wife left behind. The passages discussing the emotions of returning home after being away and estranged were beautiful and rang true.