Olivia Pentland felt trapped in a loveless marriage to her husband, Anson. Anson was so proud of his family's history that he decided to write a book about his ancestors. His book celebrated their place among the New England elites and ignored any failings. The Pentlands were among the earliest European settlers in Massachusetts and still retained high status in the Durham, MA, community. But that status was challenged when Irish Catholics and immigrants moved into Durham and began to achieve financial success.

Louis Bromfield's 1926 novel "Early Autumn" tells the story of the Pentland family as they deal with the changes in society and their place in it. When Anson's son dies, it signals the end of the Pentland name, but the family has already been fading for years.

Anson's father, family patriarch John Pentland, admires Anson's wife, Olivia, more than his own son, placing pressure on her to hold the family together. She feels conflicted when Irish immigrant and politician Michael O'Hara begins to court her.

A series of events during the autumn begins to disrupt the family; but they serve only to reveal problems that already existed.

When divorced cousin Sabine returns from Europe, her free attitude shakes the conservative family; but their values began to shatter years before.

When the last male descendant dies, it signals the end of the Pentland family name; but the family has been fading for decades.

Dark family secrets are revealed; but the changing social structure doomed the family more than any scandal could.

"Early Autumn" is the story of societal change as the American Dream replaces the older values of aristocracy. It is the story of a family bound by tradition, doomed to lose its status to those they consider inferior.