The only fantastic element of this novel is that it takes place in the imaginary Central European country of Orsinia, which is also the setting of her collection Orsinian Tales.

In many ways, Malafrena reads like a 19th-century novel, with its many detailed characters, its political and romantic subplots, its lack of the supernatural, and its settings that range from the mansions of the aristocracy to slums and a prison.

The hero is Itale Sorde, the son of the owner of an estate on a lake called Malafrena in a valley of the same name.

Mike Cadden notes that Malafrena has not received as much critical attention as many of le Guin's other works, primarily because the characters in the story do not connect well with one another.

[1](p 30) An imperceptible, omniscient author is used to tell the story, and le Guin herself acknowledges one of the strongest influences on her Orsinian works is Russian literature.