In a Nova Scotia fishing village, a wonderful new world unfolds for deaf-mute Belinda McDonald (Jane Wyman) after kindly doctor Robert Richardson (Lew Ayres) takes a professional interest in her and teaches Belinda to communicate. But things turn ugly after the town bully (Stephen McNally) rapes Belinda and she ends up pregnant. Wyman earned top Oscar honors for her fine performance in this well-crafted weeper.