When Southerner Margaret Hale is forced to relocate to the northern town of Milton, she finds herself hating the industrial society, offended by the townspeople and disgusted by the dirt and noise she finds there. Mill owner John Thornton represents all she has come to despise about her new home. But gradually, Margaret's attitudes soften, and she makes friends with people in the town, learning about the plight of the millworkers - their poverty and workplace struggles. As events throw Margaret and John together, she realises even two complete opposites can fall in love.