This is a set of letters written by Flannery O'Connor. The first of these letters were written as part of a diary. These letters are divided by the years in which they were written. Over time, they show the development of a lady who represents some of the education and intellectual growth of a woman of the first half of the twentieth century. She was a functional Catholic, but this is not meant to indicate that she was not critical of beliefs and practices within her religion. Her personal maturation and the growth of her thought are shown in these letters.

The letters begin at the very start of her career as a writer, when she endeavors to find her very first literary agent. At that time she was a young, single Catholic woman in her early twenties. She graduated from women's college in an era when many higher educational institutions were single sex only. After that she attendws a graduate program in writing, and there were a handful of events that take place there - such as winning an award, that help to launch her literary career. By the middle of the book, her career has developed substantially, her health has deteriorated, and it seems that whether she liked it or not, she is going to be extremely single. She suffered from a number of financial concerns, some of which are completely normal and many of which occur in ways specific to her profession. It becomes clear during the course of these that she was a middle class woman. She was provincial, but when compared with others in the district she lived in, she was rather worldly and broad-minded. During much of the book, it is clear that the way she lived is humble, from an urban perspective. However, within a rural framework it is quite clear that she and her mother were far from being poor, although it was often just the two of them there. They owned the farm; they had the means to employ at least two workers for it; they had plenty of animals both for food and for fun.