Evelyn, who is ill, dies during the night of lung failure due to exposure to gas in World War I and Juno flees the house.

Reluctant to join her mother who has emigrated to Canada, and having nowhere else to go, Juno soon finds herself on her way to the West Country to see Evelyn's family at a farm named Copplestone.

The owner of the farm, Robert Copplestone, Evelyn's father and only relative, is short of labour and hires Juno as a landgirl.

When her mother in Canada hears that Juno has given birth to a pair of illegitimate twins, the social embarrassment makes her break off any further contact with her daughter.

Gradually she learns to trust the other people at Copplestone, and the withdrawn and quiet Juno grows into an independent and determined woman, who is more than merely part of the furniture.