When doctor Jerry Lovell discovers a young woman living alone in the backwoods of North Carolina, he is intrigued by her erratic behavior and unique pattern of speech. Together with a psychologist, Lovell determines to pierce Nell's private world and protect her from the courts - and a life of scientific study. In a race against time and a system bent on shattering her spirit, he finds that the woman whose way of life he has sought to protect, has transformed his own forever.