And now, in this low and critical moment, something in Penelope, something which had understood courage and resource and action, though she herself had never been brave or resourceful or active, stirred and shook itself.

Penelope Shadow is quite hopeless at female pursuits, such as housework, looking after children or darning a sock. One day she buys a typewriter and realizes that she has a flare for writing romantic novels. As one bestseller after another springs from her fertile mind, she is able to buy a house and live a comfortable life.

Being equally inept at managing staff, she loses a number of housekeepers before employing a capable and attentive young man. When local gossip ensues, he declares his love and they are married. But are his motives true? Is she in danger? As events twist and turn, she has to summon the strength of her feisty heroines to work out what they would do in the novel's denouement.