14-year-old Will Tweedy lives in the small Georgy town of Cold Sassy. It's a close-knit community where nothing much happens. After the death of his grandmother his entire family goes into mourning. He worries about how his grandpa, Rucker Blakeslee, will get by on his when. When he asks the old man, Rucker confides in the boy that he intends to marry the hat-maker, Miss Love Simpson. Will trust his grandfather's decision, but he knows the town will talk because Ms. Love is so much younger than Rucker and because his grandma died only three weeks earlier. He goes fishing and miraculously avoids getting run over by a train. When the townsfolk hear about the incident, they all flock to Will's house to hear about it. Rucker arrives with his new bride, much to everyone's disapproval.
Ever curious, Will spends a lot of time at his grandpa's house. Ms. Love becomes a friend. She admits that she married Rucker because he has promised to leave his house to her in his will. He really just wants a housekeeper but cannot afford one, so the two have a marriage of appearances only. They sleep in different rooms. Respecting his grandparents' wishes, Will does his best to help the rest of the town accept this new union for what it is. Reputations are hard to maintain in such closely-watched situations, however, and gossip spreads when Ms. Love's ex-fiance visits and begs her to return to Texas with him.
When Will learns that Rucker has two tickets to New York, he sees an opportunity to cheer up his mom -- Rucker's daughter, Mary -- who is still in morning for her mother. Hoyt, her husband, works for Rucker. He's supposed to use the tickets ot purchase some new supplies for the store. Will finally has his mom convinced to go to New York when Rucker announces he will be using the tickets for he and Ms. Love instead. This poor timing only reaffirms Mary's hatred of this new wife. Rucker and Love, however, have a fantastic time in New York and return with more affectionate attitudes toward one another.
Right about this time Will's dad buys a Cadillac to distract his wife from her grief. They are the first family to own a car in this town. Excited, Will borrows the car to take a date -- Lightfood McLendon -- to the cemetery where he kisses her. Unfortunately a neighbors sees and spreads the news all over town. Will isn't allowed to drive for a while. Intrigued by the new invention, Rucker buys a car as well and announces he will be opening a car dealership soon. He looks to Will to teach he and Ms. love how to drive, but Will gets into an accident. That night they all stay with a nearby farmer while they wait for a repair crew to arrive. Will overhears Rucker and Ms. Love discuss their marriage. After Rucker proposes taking their relationship to the next level, he learns that Ms. Love is ashamed to pursue a romantic relationship because she had been raped as a child. Naturally he comforts her and convinces her that she deserves to find love and to move on from those awful memories.
Not long after Rucker and Love are madly in love with one another. Hard times strike when Will's uncle -- Camp Williams -- kills himself. Will's rival for Lightfoot's affections gets a job working for his grandpa so that he's able to afford a dowry to marry her, which he does. Finally Rucker is robbed and beaten. He recovers from his injuries but soon catches pneumonia and dies. At his funeral, Ms. Love confesses to Will that she's pregnant. She's decided to stay in Cold Sassy, despite her poor reputation, because Rucker's child should be raised in his father's hometown.
