The Cabin and Parlor is an example of the pro-slavery plantation literature genre that emerged from the Southern United States in response to the abolitionist novel Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe, which had been published in book form in that year, and criticised in the Southern United States for exaggerating the workings of slaveholding.

[2] The story begins with the sudden death of Mr. Courtenay, a wealthy but kindly Virginia landowner who, not having had time to pay off his debts, leaves his family facing destitution.

The money from the sales is nominal, and Isabel and her brother Horace must find jobs to pay the remaining bills and support their ailing mother.

As the Courtenays continue to struggle, Isabel finds comfort in a young slaveowner named Walworth, the son of an old Virginia family, who travels back and forth between the North and South.

Peterson's novel was among the earliest examples of the plantation literature genre, released six months after Uncle Tom's Cabin appeared in book form.