The diary of Mary Elizabeth Collins, a young woman growing up in mid-Victorian Plattsburgh, New York, begins with daily entries throughout 1884, then goes to entries every few days in 1885, then every few weeks in 1886, concluding with every few months in 1887. While Mary grows up from 1884 through 1887, her essentials endure. She has a wistful, melancholy reflectiveness, especially when she reads past diary entries and compares them to the present. She fights an uncertain battle between rational restraint and messy passions. She makes friends (male and female) easily and flirts with gusto. She loves her family, especially her wise counselor, sister Birdie, as well as her constant chaperone, brother Ernest.