Lee Addams, Claudette Colbert, is engaged to marry Larry Addams, Richard Derr, a spendthrift widower with two children, Chase Robert Sterling and Penny June Allyson Addams. Lee had been living in England with her guardian aunt, who disapproved of the match since Larry was an alcoholic, and while returning to America on an ocean liner, she meets Chris Matthews, Walter Pidgeon, a close friend of Larry's. Despite a growing affection for Chris, she marries Larry and moves to his farm in Rhode Island. Larry's talent is playing the piano, which he teaches Penny, but he gave up this dream to work in a bank to please his father. This thwarted ambition has haunted him and shapes the life Lee faces as she tries to cope with his alcoholism and win Penny's confidence.
Over the next two years Lee tries to help Larry confront his alcoholism while trying to win Penny's confidence. While Lee is out for the night with Chris, Larry dies, his body found at the bottom of a cliff. He had committed suicide after two years of marriage, and on his death, it is reported that Larry had embezzled money from his clients. Lee sends Chris away and moves the family to New York, taking a job to pay off Larry's debts and withholding the full truth from Penny to shield her from scandal. Penny makes a hero out of Larry, believing he died of a heart attack, and cannot bring herself to embrace Lee, who is left to look after them alone. This painful revelation marks a turning point in their family history.
Ten years later, Penny, who has dropped out of school and plays the piano obsessively to honor her father's memory, becomes the patient of psychiatrist Dr. Rossiger, Lionel Barrymore. Lee visits the doctor, who recommends they return to the Rhode Island farm for the summer to confront the past. Chase returns from the navy after three years and seeks a job with Chris Matthews, Walter Pidgeon, who now runs a shipyard. He introduces Penny to his navy friend Brandon Reynolds and to Kay Burns, Patricia Medina, who joins the group. Chris reenters Lee's life after a ten-year absence, and Lee realizes that she loved him all along and let him go.
Back on the farm, Penny's reverence for her father wavers when Chase reveals the truth; she confides in Chris, who has become a pillar of support. Although Brandon Reynolds has shown interest in Penny, she loves Chris and is devastated to find him in Lee's arms. Penny attempts to kill herself by jumping off a cliff, but Lee intervenes in time. Healing begins as Lee finally tells Penny the full story of her father's life, and Penny is able to embrace Lee at last. In the end, Penny graduates, having accepted Chris as her father, and resumes her romance with Brandon, signaling a hopeful future for the family.
