Kay Effiel is an author writing her latest novel. Her story revolves about an isolated man named Harold Crick. What she doesn't know is that her fictionalized character is real. Harold is an IRS agent who has lived a dull existence. One day he begins to hear Karen's voice as she narrates what she is putting down on paper. Harold enlists the help of a literary professor to find out what is happening and ends up changing things about his life. He begins to have a relationship with his IRS client, a government-hating bakery owner named Ana Pascal. Harold, however, finds trouble when he hears that Karen plans to kill him.