The Sue of the title is Sue Hedson, an architect in practice with her husband, Jack. The story begins when they meet, moves on to how they wed and started their architectural practice. A tragic seeming accident upsets her life. She has doubts about whether it was an accident or deliberate murder. Her best friend has cancer, and evils she doesn't understand threaten her. A general economic collapse also threatens her. The setting is the fictional town of Jeffersonville, in the southern Applachians. Her spiritual life is challenged, but in the end she is triumphant!