故事发生在20世纪50年代的英格兰，莉迪亚（荷丽黛·格兰杰 Holliday Grainger 饰）是生活在那里的一位非常平凡的主妇，在遭到丈夫的无情抛弃后，莉迪亚无奈之下和儿子查理开始了相依为命的拮据生活。因为家庭的原因，查理在学校里饱受欺凌，母子两人生活屡屡走入绝境。 　　正当两人最绝望的时候，一位名为简（安娜·帕奎因 Anna Paquin 饰）的女医生搬到了莉迪亚家隔壁。简温柔而又善良，她不仅治好了查理的伤，还在莉迪亚和查理险些遭遇流落街头的命运的时候向两人敞开了家里的大门。就这样，莉迪亚住进了简的家，随着时间的推移，两人之间产生了别样的感情，与此同时，有关两人的流言蜚语在小小的村庄里疯狂的传播着。A single mother Lydia (Holliday Grainger) who is abandoned by her husband, meets the small village's Doctor Jean Markham (Anna Paquin) who has recently returned to her hometown when Lydia's son Charlie is taken under the doctor after being bullied in school. When Lydia and Charlie are unhoused because of Lydia's earnings from her work are not adequate to pay the rent, Jean invites them to stay in her home and she and Lydia soon develop a friendship and maybe something more.