The prestigious New England boarding school, Miss Oliver’s School for Girls, is on the cusp of going under. The trustees have just fired Marjorie Boyd, headmistress for the last thirtyfive years, because she’s derelict as a financial manager. But she is a brilliant educator, beloved of the alumnae and students, who are angry and rebellious and will hate her successor. Nevertheless, if her successor, Fred Kindler, can get the support of the legendary senior teacher, Francis Plummer, he has a fighting chance to save the school. But to Plummer, anyone who replaces Marjorie represents disaster.
His wife, Peggy Plummer, the librarian, thinks differently. She understands why the board of trustees had to save the school from the flaws of the very woman who had made it so worth saving. As passionately loyal to Kindler as Francis is to Marjorie, Peggy steps forward to help the new head, usurping her husband’s position at the head’s right hand. The school’s survival, Fred Kindler’s career, and the Plummers’ marriage are now all at risk.