A series of tragedies reduces the intelligent and compassionate Shirley to a catatonic and lifeless state. Hospitalized, her diary entries are presented by a psychiatrist. Her entries begin with the return of her beautiful childhood friend, Myrrha, from Greece to their hometown in Virginia. Myrrha, prestigious and haughty, trains for the National Horse Show for Greece. She is loved by all, inspiring passerby to ogle at her and attracting much attention to Shirley’s otherwise quiet home. Shirley accidentally offends Myrrha by revealing that in their childhood, she and the other girls believed Myrrha to be too "queenly," associating Myrrha's demeanor with her Greek background. A couple days later, Myrrha suggests that they all drink her resin wine, and in the following days after, Shirley notices her husband and child's increased adoration for Myrrha. Shirley’s child, Dorrie, grows increasingly reluctant to kiss her mother goodnight, crying for Myrrha to kiss her instead. After kissing her child, Shirley tastes the resin wine on her child’s lips. Another incident occurs when her husband, Tom, confesses to her that Myrrha seduced him in the hayloft, the scent of resin wine lingering in his breath. Myrrha throws Tom into confusion, however, when she completely denies anything happened. She calls Wheeler, Shirley's loyal stableman, to testify that she was away at the stables the entire time, tending to a mare. Eventually, everything settles and they return to camaraderie. Shirley learns that Myrrha truly was looking after a mare on the night Tom claims their affair happened, and that the mare is Shirley's. Ashamed, Tom spends a whole day looking after Shirley's mare, Merry Widow, to atone for his actions. A horrible accident quickly ends the short period of peace: Tom approaches Myrrha’s prized stallions, and when they detect the scent of Merry Widow on Tom, the stallions kill him. Barely recovering from Tom's death, Shirley falls apart when her daughter dies from unwittingly eating a poisonous mushroom. Myrrha and her herders leave, and no one visits the farm anymore. Shirley’s mare, Merry Widow, births a foal she won’t mother, but Shirley won’t give up on the little thing. Her diary entires end with an ominous, unfinished sentence: “Its dear little hands are…”