Carson McCullers' prodigious first novel was published to instant acclaim when she was just twenty-three. Set in a small town in the middle of the deep South, it is the story of John Singer, a lonely deaf-mute, and a disparate group of people who are drawn towards his kind, sympathetic nature. The owner of the cafe where Singer eats every day, a young girl desperate to grow up, an angry drunkard, a frustrated black doctor:each pours their heart out to Singer, their silent confidant, and he in turn changes their disenchanted lives in ways they could never imagine.