When Major Charles Davenport is evacuated to England, to recuperate from a battle wound received at Tobruk, a letter is awaiting him from his wife in London informing him that she wants a divorce. Mary Kennedy is a young Irish-American who has moved to her grandparents' cottage in Ireland to mourn the loss of her husband and child. Participating in a Red Cross morale-building effort, she corresponds with a young British soldier, but his letters cease abruptly. Determined to learn what has become of him she makes her way to the army hospital in Sussex where she meets his commanding officer, Major Davenport. Thus begins a love story, carried out almost entirely by letter, set against the dramatic events of WWII.