Katharine Hilbery must choose between marrying the poet William Rodney or pursuing her attraction to Ralph Denham. As she struggles with this decision, she is influenced by the stories of two other women - women's rights activist Mary Datchet and Katharine's mother Margaret, who is writing a biography of her father. Virginia Woolf's novel Night and Day explores the themes of love, women's roles in society, and the nature of human experience.