A fire and other trauma leave young Bobbin Derby with a blank memory and no apparent family. She is raised in an orphanage. Despite adversity, she is precocious, reading everything she can find. Her sweet, infectious nature wins friends, benefactors, and unexpected opportunities. Over time, she deals with her troubled past, rises in society, inherits a bookshop, lands a good marriage, and even finds her long lost ... She grows into a lovely humanitarian and lifts up all those around her.