American-born Anna Vorontosov teaches school in a remote, primitive section of northern New Zealand. Her experimental teaching methods have won her the love and affection of her pupils and their parents and the admiration of the unhappily married school inspector, Abercrombie. Her personal life, however, is less secure; frightened of love and sexually inhibited, she has always been aloof with men. Eager to break down this barrier is Englishman Paul Lathrope, a somewhat irrational and immature fellow teacher who aspires to be a singer. Though Anna is attracted to him, she refuses to submit to his advances. One day she is shocked to learn that one of her helpers, Whareparita, a 15-year-old unmarried Maori girl, is expecting a child. Equally devastating to Anna is the discovery that both the young girl and her relatives are eagerly awaiting the baby. This calm acceptance of nature so disturbs Anna that she begins to question her own way of life. Then Whareparita's baby dies at birth, and Paul is killed in a motorcycle accident--possibly suicidal. Shortly before the funeral Anna learns that it was Paul who fathered Whareparita's dead infant. Overcome with guilt, Anna blames her frigidity for the tragic turn of events. It is only when Abercrombie convinces her that no one is directly responsible for the actions of another person that Anna is able to absolve herself of guilt. Encouraged by the gentle and tender love offered by Abercrombie, she at last realizes that she has nothing to fear from life.