This is the story of Singer the mute, who lives his lonely life in a small town in the American South. And the story of the people who find solace in his kindness, and come to confide in him their problems and dreams. Like Mick, the tomboy who wants to become a pianist; Dr. Copeland, the black doctor who fights for the dignity of his race; Biff Brannon, the philosophical restaurateur; and Blount, the alcoholic unionist. 

Each fights their own battle, but they all dream of the same thing: to break free from the shackles of loneliness.

In McCullers' world, however, a world of existential anguish and unhealed psychic trauma, the heart hunts alone…

A great novel, Carson McCullers' first, which instantly established her as one of the most important voices in 20th-century American literature.