Separated from her husband in New York and between jobs, Louise Storr finds herself at the steps of her grandfather's Iowa farm. Grandpa Storr, full of years and wisdom, is a patriarch who has been the master of the Storr lands for generations. Witty and grand, he rules his homestead with a serene indifference to the petulant brood of relatives who fill the household. Grandpa Storr immediately detects in Louise the ancient Storr qualities of candor, independence and wit which have been so sadly lacking in the rest of the Storrhaven brood. While some members of the family and community look on with growing ill-will, Grandpa and Louise become very fond of one another. The young woman's marital difficulties are the subject of much gossip and when she takes to riding in the country with a married neighbor and accompanying him to dances, the family's ill-will turns to malevolence. The author has created an enormously life-like gallery of Iowans including a greedy and wasp-tongued niece by marriage, her lazy farm lawyer husband, a vague and foolish step-daughter, and a reliable farmhand fond of corn whiskey. Stong's sensitivity towards his characters and his obvious love of the farmland that sustains them, make Stranger's Return a classic well-worth rediscovery. Stranger's Return was also made into a popular movie by MGM starring Lionel Barrymore and Miriam Hopkins.