Loosely based on the real-life story of Bea Miles, an eccentric character living in Sydney, this fine Australian drama tells the tragic tale of Lilian Singer, a woman whose cruel father placed her in a mental institution where she spent forty years. The story looks at the circumstances surrounding her commitment as a young woman, her childhood and life after she is finally released. In the opening scenes, Lilian leaves the asylum and is taken to a seedy downtown hotel frequented by prostitutes and other shady characters. Fortunately, the working girls prove friendly and sympathetic. Lilian becomes convinced that she is in love with a stodgy bank manager, but her love abruptly dies when he calls the police upon her. She next meets her long-lost lover Frank, who has unfortunately turned into an alcoholic and is unable to respond to her. As Lilian has more experiences, flashbacks gradually reveal the terrible things her father did to her.