"Residents and Transients" is set in western Kentucky. The protagonist, Mary, narrates the story in her own voice. She announces in the first paragraph, "Since my husband went away to work in Louisville, I have, to my surprise, taken a lover." From this surprising opening, Mary explains how she finds herself back in Kentucky, living in her former family home.

Three years before the story opens, Mary had returned to Kentucky (after an absence of eight years) in order to care for her ailing parents. Shortly after returning to Kentucky, she married Stephen, a word processor salesman. At the time of her marriage, she agreed to the frequent transfers his job would require, but now, she is not sure that she wants to move away from home again. Nevertheless, Mary herself feels like an outsider in her home community; her long absence has given her an...