Eto istoriya o molodoy zhenschine Syuzen Geylord, nachinayuschem i talantlivom skulptore, kotoraya pytaetsya nayti balans mezhdu lichnymi ambitsiyami i obschestvennymi ozhidaniyami. V otlichii ot mnogih zhenschin, zhivuschih v Amerike nachala proshlogo veka, Syuzen ne zhelaet dovolstvovatsya tolko rolyu domohozyayki, ona hochet postroit kareru, ostavayas pri etom horoshey zhenoy i lyubyaschey materyu. Smozhet li geroinya otstoyat pravo byt samoy soboy? V romane «Gordoe serdtse» proslezhivayutsya avtobiograficheskie motivy, schitaetsya, chto glavnaya geroinya vo mnogom yavlyaetsya alter ego Perl Bak, cherez nee ona vyskazyvaet sobstvennye razmyshleniya o pravah zhenschin.