In this family saga Mrs. Parkington recounts the story of her life beginning as a hotel maid in frontier Nevada where she is swept off her feet by mine owner and financier Augustus Parkington. He moves them to New York tries to remake her into a society woman and establishes their home among the wealthiest of New York's high society. Family and social life is not always peaceful however and she guides us in flashbacks through the rises and falls of the Parkington family fortunes.