The book describes an isolated society composed entirely of women, who bear children without men (parthenogenesis, a form of asexual reproduction).

It was first published in monthly installments as a serial in 1915 in The Forerunner, a magazine edited and written by Gilman between 1909 and 1916, with its sequel, With Her in Ourland beginning immediately thereafter in the January 1916 issue.

The story is told from the perspective of Vandyck "Van" Jennings, a sociology student who, along with two friends, Terry O. Nicholson and Jeff Margrave, forms an expedition party to explore an area of uncharted land rumored to be home to a society consisting entirely of women.

After meeting the first inhabitants of this new land (which Van names "Herland") the men proceed more cautiously, noting that the girls they met were strong, agile, and completely unafraid.

Their caution is warranted, because as the men enter the town where the girls disappeared, they become surrounded by a large group of women, who march them towards an official-looking building.

Van makes many notes about the new country and people, commenting that everything from their clothing to their furniture seems to be made with the twin ideals of pragmatism and aesthetics given equal consideration.

Often Van finds himself having difficulty justifying the practices of his own society such as the milking of cows, and the keeping of property, when faced with the apparent utopia the women have managed to build.

Van gradually finds out more information about the women's society, discovering that most of the men were killed 2,000 years ago when a volcanic eruption sealed off the only pass out of Herland.

As the men are allowed more freedom, each strikes up a relationship with one of the women they had first seen upon their arrival: Van with Ellador, Jeff with Celis, and Terry with Alima.

In the end, both Terry and Van leave Herland with promises not to reveal the utopia until Ellador has returned and such a plan has been fully discussed.

Gilman's talk of eugenics, racial purity, and "servants" all hint at system of white supremacy where the different struggles of working-class women of color are not addressed.

[9] In a society that bans abortion and centers all aspects of social, economic, and political life around the production of children, these "Herlanders" are still tied, without will, to their biological roles as mothers.

Deborah L Madsen argues that a Marxist feminist approach can enhance readers' understanding of Gilman's writing, observing that Gilman exposes "the ideological construction of the self under patriarchy" in Herland by "represent[ing] the world in a utopian fashion, as it should be rather than it is, with women in possession of equal rights and responsibilities and dignity that comes from realising their full human potential.”[10] Following its publication in The Forerunner, Herland and its sequel, With Her in Ourland, were largely forgotten throughout the mid-20th Century.

Lane was also the first to suggest in her introduction a "Utopian Trilogy" of novels by Gilman, including Moving the Mountain (1911), Herland, and With Her in Ourland, all of which had been published serially in The Forerunner.

In The Ultimate Guide to Science Fiction, David Pringle referred to Herland as "an important feminist work, long forgotten, and recently published for the first time in bookform.