Kate, a young country girl endures a miserable existence on a farm with her alcoholic father and her disillusioned mother. She forms a relationship with a married solicitor, Mr. Gentleman, and wins a scholarship to continue her education to a nearby boarding school, St. Joseph's. The only other girl from the village is the unscrupulous Baba Brennan, who displays her jealousy at Kate's brilliance when she announces "its much better when you pay".

Convent life turns out to be as restrictive as the village and Baba, feeling confined, seriously misbehaves and drags Kate into mischief.