Howells wrote in the realist style, creating a faithful representation of the commonplace, and in this case describing everyday mannerisms that embody the daily lives of middle-class people.
The story takes place in the late 19th century at Jocelyn's hotel on the beach outside of Newport, Rhode Island, and is told through the voice of a third person narrator.
At the hotel croquet court we meet a sickly woman named Louise Maynard and her physician, Dr. Grace Breen.
She requests a consultation from a male doctor, so Dr. Breen decides to contact Dr. Rufus Mulbridge, a local physician who practices mainstream, conventional medicine.
Miss Gleason, another women staying at the hotel, insists that Dr. Breen is the best option for Mrs. Maynard, and that if she calls for a consultation from Dr. Mulbridge she will be making it harder for female physicians to act without a man's assistance.
When Dr. Breen arrives at Dr. Mulbridge's office, the reader sees that while he has an established place of business, she works and lives at a hotel, and while he has many patients, she only treats one woman.
William Dean Howells's depiction of the modern female physician challenged the social and gender roles of the time period.
A review in the Atlantic Monthly, “Portrait of a Lady and Dr. Breen’s Practice”, stated that William Dean Howells was able to do something not many authors had done, and that was showing people of New England the humor within their uptight lifestyles.