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Stephen Brigstocke recounts his forced retirement from being a private school teacher. He used to be popular when he taught older grades, but since his wife Nancy’s death and his move to teaching younger children, he became jaded. Stephen dislikes teaching children because he finds them boring. The private school forced Stephen into retirement after he gave a seven-year-old student lengthy personal criticism on a summer vacation essay. Stephen had originally been hired by a friend who wanted to help Stephen’s financial situation, but there were too many complaints against Stephen to ignore.

Catherine and Robert return home from an awards show after-party celebrating Catherine’s recent documentary project. Robert goes to bed, but Catherine stays up to research The Perfect Stranger. She discovers that the book was self-published under a pseudonym, which leaves her no clues about its author. Catherine hasn’t been able to sleep since receiving the book, as her anxious thoughts keep her awake. Catherine’s secret involves her son Nicholas, who almost died as a five-year-old child while on vacation. Catherine regrets not telling Robert the truth when the incident happened, and she feels it’s too late to be honest now. Catherine worries about how she received the book, fearing someone broke into the house and placed it on her nightstand.

Stephen explains that seven years after Nancy’s death, he finally went through her old clothes. He took most to a charity shop, where he became a regular customer, but he kept one of Nancy’s cardigans that she wore since they were first married. Stephen and Nancy were both writers, but once their son Jonathan was born, both became teachers. Stephen was happy to give up writing because he knew he wasn’t as talented as Nancy.

Stephen decides to use his free time for a new writing project. He wants to write a history of the Martello towers—small forts built in the 19th century—where he and Nancy once vacationed. On his way to the library, Stephen thinks he sees Nancy’s ghost, but it is just a woman wearing one of Nancy’s coats from the charity shop. The incident shakes Stephen, but he recovers when he gets absorbed in his research. Back at home, Stephen continues his work at the writing desk he shared with Nancy. He reads one of her unpublished manuscripts, comforted by her youthful voice.

In the morning, Catherine rushes out of the house to see Robert off to work. Afterwards, she goes for a run through the neighborhood, stopping in a cemetery. She sees children’s headstones, and pictures what it would have been like if Nicholas were among them. She is grateful Nicholas is alive and that she didn’t have to burden Robert with the weight of her secret those 20 years ago.

Stephen wakes up the next day enthusiastic about continuing his work. He digs through his and Nancy’s shared dresser for paper. In his efforts to dislodge the paper, he finds a hidden purse. The purse contains innocuous items like keys, as well as a package of photos. Stephen looks through the photos, expecting to see family pictures, but he finds sexually explicit images that his son took of an unnamed woman. Stephen is furious that Nancy left him to discover the photos now that she can no longer explain what they are. Fueled by anger and betrayal, Stephen tears through his house looking for other hidden items.

Catherine lies awake considering her secret from Robert. She first lied about the incident when she claimed that she was depressed because she wanted to go back to work—that spending all day at home with Nicholas brought up bad memories. Catherine even lied about helping a sick friend so she could get away for a weekend. When she returned, the buzz of work helped to occupy her mind.

Catherine gets out of bed and brings the book with her. She goes into the spare room and unpacks the last boxes from the move, hoping to figure out how the book came into her house. Robert startles Catherine while she is deep in thought about Nicholas’s independence. When Catherine asks him about the book, Robert denies buying it; he worries she is making small talk to avoid a bigger conversation. He asks her about wanting to return to work, and Catherine, lying, confirms this suspicion. Catherine suddenly remembers that she received the book in the mail, forwarded from their old address. She is relieved the author doesn’t know where she lives now. She turns her focus to preparing Sunday dinner for Nicholas.

Stephen tries to continue his project, but the sight of the photos and the keys distracts him. He visits his son Jonathan’s apartment, noticing rotten smells and dying flowers. He finds a dead mouse in a forgotten trap and other evidence that the apartment has been long abandoned. He opens a locked drawer in Nancy’s old writing desk, and he finds items that belonged to Nancy and Jonathan: Nancy’s notebooks and an untitled manuscript; and Jonathan’s knife, cigarettes, and deodorant. Stephen feels hurt that Nancy hid a manuscript, and he takes it with him.

Nicholas goes through the boxes in the spare room, unsure of what to take. Catherine tries to make up for her impatience with exaggerated doting on his childhood items. She and Nicholas talk awkwardly about his new apartment and his job at a department store. Catherine thinks back to Nicholas’s underachieving school career, grateful that he has a steady job. Nicholas is dissatisfied with his forced independence.

As Robert and Nicholas watch football, Catherine reads more of The Perfect Stranger, flipping to the parts “she knows will hurt her” (44). She falls asleep and wakes as Nicholas is about to leave. He notices the book, a copy of which he has also received. Catherine pesters him about the book, but Nicholas doesn’t know who gave it to him. Unlike Catherine, Nicholas finished the book and reveals that the main female character dies at the end. Catherine hides her fear as Nicholas leaves.

Stephen reads and re-reads Nancy’s manuscript, feeling invigorated by her voice on the pages. He furthers this closeness to his wife by copying the manuscript out by hand. He puts the photos up on the wall, since they are key pieces of the story Nancy wrote. At the end of each day, Stephen reads the manuscript aloud to Nancy’s spirit. After a year of work, Stephen has the manuscript completely handwritten and typed.