Soldiers' Pay is William Faulkner's first novel, published in 1926. It tells the story of a WWI veteran named Donald Mahon returning home to Mississippi who has suffered grievous wounds, and the interpersonal conflicts he encounters. Donald is blind, suffers from memory loss, and is nearly mute, and is therefore accompanied by the discharged soldier Joe Gilligan, who acts as his guardian. Joe is a mature and steadfast older man who views Donald as the son he never had. Donald is engaged to Cecily Saunders, a beautiful but shallow woman who finds herself repulsed by the scarring Donald is left with. Their engagement is threatened not only by Cecily's fickle nature, but also the desires of the widowed war nurse Margaret Powers. She is very intelligent and independent, but her darker skin causes some amount of issues with the racist mindset of the American South. She is often referred to as a black women by those intending insult, but it doesn't stop men from being interested in her. One such character is the naive Julian Lowe, who dreams of being a heroic pilot and is therefore disappointed by the armistice.

More hometown characters include Donald's father Joseph, a clergyman, and George Farr, a gullible man in love with Cecily. Emmy is a housemaid at the refectory and is devastated when Donald returns with no memory of her. She had given her virginity to him, and his wounds and eventual death causes her such grief she submits to the immoral and lecherous Januarius Jones.

The web of interpersonal relationships grows and shifts and changes as the novel progresses, so I'll give a quick rundown one more time. Donald is engaged to Cecily, who seems to be interested in every man but him and eventually runs away and elopes with George. Even with his wounds, Donald is desired by Margaret and Emmy, and before his death, he ends up marrying Margaret. After Donald's death, Joe proposes to Margaret, but quickly recovers after she declines the proposal and moves on. Briefly, she is also pursued by Julian and Januarius (who in turn pursues every other woman in the novel), neither of whom getting anywhere with her.