At a Glance
Emily Grierson, last member of an aristocratic Southern family, is raised by her widowed father, whose death reinforces her isolation from the community.
When Northern laborer Homer Barron comes to town, Emily takes an interest in him despite his lower social standing.
The town’s efforts to prevent the match fail. Her arrogant cousins come to town, and Emily buys arsenic.
Emily buys a men’s toiletry set, presaging marriage. Homer disappears and Emily becomes a recluse.
When she dies, a man’s skeleton is found on a bed in Emily’s upstairs room next to an indented pillow and a long gray hair.