Aged 63 Karen Blixen is at the pinnacle of her fame and next in line to win the Nobel Prize for literature. It has been 17 years since she gave up her famous farm in Africa only to return to Denmark with her life in ruins. Devastated by syphilis and having lost the love of her life she has reinvented herself as a literary sensation. She is an isolated genius, however, until the day she meets a talented 30-year-old poet. She promises him literary stardom if he in return will obey her unconditionally even at the cost of him losing everything else in his life.