The second Claudine novel follows its narrator after she leaves her village for Paris. Claudine is homesick and out of place at first, living with her father and observing city society with a sharp, comic eye. She meets relatives, new acquaintances and a charming young man, and begins to find her way in a more complicated world. The book keeps the frank, lively voice of the first novel while moving from school days toward adult life. It gives a lively picture of Paris around 1900.