Tiffany lives in an age where a married woman’s duties are set in rigid conforms of a post-Victorian society. As a wife, she is the giver of her heart and her body and a servant to her husband and a nanny to his children. There is not much leeway for her to move outside of this sphere. Living in a small town doesn’t make things any easier; alas it makes some a bit more difficult.

Tiffany’s life was never easy, but never really hard either. She was simply an average woman in an average town living an average life. Everything changes with her husband Dean’s alcohol abuse. As Dean’s addiction grows, so do her problems. Although she still loves him and does everything possible to recover their lost happiness, he sinks ever deeper into the pits of decadence. Early on already, even before Dean got worse, Tiffany’s mother Lilly encourages her daughter to leave Dean, seeing this as a lost marriage. Yet Tiffany refuses to give up.

One day, a mine inspector named Jack Johnston comes to their little town. He meets Tiffany through her father, Brad, who is a foreman in one of the coal mines and knew Mr. Johnston from his job. Jack takes a liking to Tiffany. However, Tiffany remains steadfast and refuses to go into any romantic affairs, seeing that she is a married woman. When Jack is finished with his job, he returns to Pittsburg and life in Monongah goes on as usual. Dean’s drinking gets worse and he even begins to beat Tiffany. Lilly adamantly encourages her daughter to leave Dean, over and over again. Yet, despite the compounding troubles, Tiffany remains with him.

One day a great disaster befalls the coal mines, killing many miners. Jack returns to town as an investigator, whose job it is to determine the cause of the great mine explosion. Because the little town is quickly filled with helpers coming from all over the nation, and the only hotel is soon booked out, Jack must reside in a private house. Fate wants it that he moves in with the Carmichaels … the house of Tiffany’s parents. This is a happy coincidence for Jack and a rather uncomfortable one for Tiffany.

Will Jack be able to conquer Tiffany’s heart after all? Will Tiffany find a way to drop the heavy cloak of “social responsibility”, allowing herself to be swept away by him? How can Lilly help Jack in this?