Jericho is a Kansas stockyard town. The "daughters" are various residents of the town, from the rich and cruel Mrs. Butford, to the aspiring social arbiter, Mrs. Mary Agnes Wedge, and to the young widow Grey Rutledge, who is having a love affair with Wistart Wedge, Mary Agnes' disdained husband who is a newspaper publisher. The story revolves around this love triangle. Wellman has a flare for telling a tale, including a subplot relating to a double murder - a nightclub striptease artist with a religious maniac for a husband, and a police officer.