In 1904 South Bend, Indiana, recently married Hilda Johansson Cavanaugh struggles with her adjustment from being a servant to that of the wife to the affluent Patrick. Worse she finds herself isolated from her spouse's upper crust family and friends while her former working class peers snub her. Despite her unsettling circumstances, Hilda agrees to help her only remaining friend Norah O'Neill after the police arrest Norah's husband Sean, accusing him of murder and arson to hide a theft gone bad.