"Maudie", is based on the true story of folk artist Maud Lewis (Sally Hawkins) and the unlikely romance between Maud and a hardened reclusive bachelor, Everett Lewis (Ethan Hawke).

Maud, a bright-eyed, intelligent woman, hunched with crippled hands from arthritis, yearns to be independent and to live away from her overly protective family. She escapes her solitary existence in her aunt's home through her art, dreaming away the days, until in her early 30s she finds, and answers, an advertisement for a housekeeper.

Everett Lewis is a 40 year old bachelor who owes nothing to anyone. Tall, skinny and shabby, abandoned by his parents at a very young age, he has nevertheless managed to become a proud and self-sufficient man, largely by collecting scraps and peddling fish. He lives in a 10x12 foot house that has neither running water nor electricity, but at least it's all his. He is his own boss and has everything he needs, except maybe a woman to clean the house and cook his meals.