At the height of the Depression on the Canadian prairies, Emmy Bennett seeks independence and adventure teaching in a country schoolhouse. Emmy strives for excellence in her classroom as she scrambles for resources and fights chronic absenteeism. She must depend on a dysfunctional family for her room and board and fight to be paid what she is owed.
Emmy returns home for Christmas disheartened when she reconnects with a handsome young soldier, Lars Callas. They begin a long-distance correspondence and Emmy is charmed when his letters inspire her students to write and explore the Canadian North.
