"When Calls the Heart" is the story of Elizabeth Thatcher, a young teacher accustomed to her high society life, who receives her first classroom post in a small prairie town in the Western Frontier led by two strong coal miner widows, Abigail Stanton and Frances Tunnecliffe. Set against the wild canvas of a 19th century coal town, Elizabeth will have to learn the ways of the frontier if she wishes to thrive in the rural west. How does Elizabeth adjust to her new hometown?

The Pacific Northwest Mining Company threatens to evict the widows of Coal Valley unless they pick up where their husbands left off.