The story set in Oxfordshire. It is about Laura Timmins, a teenage girl from the village of Lark Rise who is sent by her parents to work as an assistant at the post office in the nearby town of Candleford. The post office is run by Miss Dorcas Lane, who is a cousin of Laura's mother. Laura's father, the stonemason Robert Timmins, at first misses her but later becomes proud of her for doing well in her new job. Laura's friend Alf Arless is in love with her, but, as Laura becomes used to life in Candleford, he realises that she will never return his feelings.