In the first part, the novelist tells the reader about a girl, called Eveline, sitting at the window of her house, looking outside it and feeling very tired.

In the second part, the novelist, shows the reader how Eveline recalls the first times of her life when she played with her brothers and sisters and the children of  neighbouring families. The flow of thoughts is deeply marked by the relationship Eveline had with her father because he was a very strict man, eager to have all her salary for him to spend it buying alcoholics; moreover, it proceeds with a brief description of Eveline's job and the working environment which she dislikes and despite the promise she made to her mother there is a long description about her wish to escape from that house together with Frank, a man she met in a house where he lodged.

In the third part, the novelist takes the reader towards the end of the novel since he  focuses on Eveline's final decision and reaction. In this last part of the novel, due to the fear of something which she does not know (namely, a new life in a new country with a man she was not very fond of ) Eveline decides not to leave with Frank.