It is the fictional story of the life of Miranda Wells and her abusive marriage to Nicholas Van Ryn, set against the historical background of the Patroon system, Anti-Rent Wars, the Astor Place Riots,[1] and steamboat racing on the Hudson River.

In the letter Van Ryn invites one of the Wells girls to Dragonwyck, to act as company for his six year old daughter Katrine.

After initial doubts, Miranda's parents allow her to go to Dragonwyck where she is instantly attracted to and intrigued by the rich, enigmatic and very dashing Nicholas, falling head over heels.

Soon, Miranda encounters kind Doctor Jeff(erson) Turner, a skilled physician and a passionate anti-renter who believes that rich Patroons, like the Van Ryns, should give up their large estates.

Van Ryn and Turner instantly dislike each other, and because of his views, Miranda is baffled when Nicholas asks the doctor to attend to his wife, who has a cold.

[3] Nina Brown Baker of the New York Times wrote, "It is disappointing that against this rich and satisfying background Miss Seton has chosen to set a trite Victorian melodrama", and "Dragonwyck is so real a house, set so solidly in such a real world, that it deserves worthier inhabitants than these pallid ghosts from a Bertha M. Clay past".