The impoverished Harlow family of New England is forced to take in summer boarders Teenaged niece Tressie welcomes the change and promptly falls in love with a wealthy young guest named Norman Minot Although Norman returns Tressies affection he is driven away by a fortunehunting mother who wants him to marry her daughter Robert Kitteridge a scheming artist friend of Normans takes Tressie on a sailboat outing during which they narrowly escape death when their boat is rammed by a steamship After being put ashore the next morning in Boston MA Robert takes Tressie to his studio and attempts to seduce her