Novel set in New York, at the end of the 19th century. Dr. Sloper is a prestigious doctor, married to a young woman of high society. He has his clientele among that public. They had a son who died at the age of three. Two years later, his wife gave birth again, this time to a girl. As a result of problems arising from childbirth, the wife died. For the doctor, the child was a disappointment, as he wanted a first-born son. Catherine, named after her mother, reminded him of her death. Sloper had two sisters; one married with children and the other a childless widow. When Catherine turned ten, the doctor invited her widowed sister, Mrs. Penniman, to live with them in a centrally located house. Her sister cared for Catherine, without a specific assignment or planned duration. As the girl grew up, her father's conviction about Catherine increased: she was in good health, she did not stand out for her beauty without being ugly, and her intelligence without being clumsy did not bode well for a brilliant future in a basic field for her father, the scientist. He had a very limited idea of what to expect from a woman. On the occasion of the engagement of a cousin, a young distant relative of the groom made a point of treating Catherine; the frequency of his visits led to a mutual infatuation, which allowed Mrs. Penniman, with little to occupy her, to devise a romantic plan in which she would be an essential element. Catherine's decision came as a surprise.Her suitor, Arthur Townsend, was unemployed and had squandered his small fortune, insisted on his declarations of love.Sloper, convinced that Arthur was after the young woman's money, opposed his daughter's marriage to the young man.The father sent his daughter to Europe for a year to try to make her forget the affair.The record of the mail showed that the young woman did not give in.A novel that reflects the environment in which the protagonists move.