影片以真实历史为基础，描述了广受人们欢迎的女作家莫阿·马丁松富有传奇色彩的一生。莫阿在18岁时同石匠卡尔结婚。婚后，她接二连三地生了五个孩子。而卡尔很快变成一个酒鬼。莫阿不甘于如此生活，她开始进行写作。在一次集会上，莫阿结识了女权主义者奥塔，并随奥塔来到城里。在众议院里，她的演讲令听众惊讶不已，结果被逐出了议会。但是，水手出身的诗人哈利·马丁松，却非常欣赏莫阿的见解。莫阿回到家里。悲剧接踵而至：两个小儿子溺死于开化的冰河中；卡尔引爆炸药自尽。数月后，哈利出现在莫阿的面前。于是，有了他们长达10余年的、充满狂风暴雨的婚姻经历了充满狂风暴雨的婚姻和人生历程……

The life of the swedish writer Moa Martinson: at the age of 18, Moa marries the stone worker Karl and has five children. The marriage becomes stormy and fringed with tragedies. In the adversities, Moa begins to write about her life. She tells unpleasant truths, and doesn't get much understanding. Her life changes when the books are published in ever larger editions. She can tear herself out of her poverty, but never abandons her origins. In 1929 she remarries the writer Harry Martinson.

1890 föddes Moa Martinson i ett soldattorp i Vårdsnäs socken i Östergötland. Erfarenheter från sina fattiga uppväxtår återgav hon i ett flertal romaner. 1927 träffar hon författaren Harry Martinson och filmen speglar deras liv och litterära karriärer.