Alone in her empty apartment, from her window Anne observes the people passing by who nervously snatch up the personal belongings and pieces of furniture she has put out on the pavement. Her final gesture of taking a ring off her finger signals she is leaving her previous life in Holland behind to go to Ireland, where she chooses to lead a solitary, wandering existence, striding with her rucksack on her back through the austere landscapes of Connemara. During her travels, she discovers a house that is home to a hermit, Martin. The latter proposes that she works for him, looking after the house and garden in exchange for food. Anne accepts on the condition that they keep their personal lives out of conversation and restrict their relationship to the work to be done. However, these two solitary beings gradually develop a degree of curiosity about one another.