Two young artists, Sue and Johnsy, rent an apartment on the top floor of a house in the New York quarter of Greenwich Village, where artists have long been living. In November, Johnsy develops pneumonia. The verdict of the doctor is disappointing: “She has one chance out of ten. And then, if she herself wants to live. " But Johnsy just lost interest in life. She lies in bed, looks out the window and counts how many leaves are left on the old ivy, which has encircled the wall opposite it with its shoots. Johnsy is convinced that when the last leaf falls, she will die.

Sue talks about the gloomy thoughts of a friend of the old artist Berman, who lives below. He has been going to create a masterpiece for a long time, but so far something is not sticking to him. Hearing about Johnsy, old Berman was terribly upset and did not want to pose for Sue, who wrote from him a goldsmith-recluse.

The next morning, it turns out that there was only one leaf left on the ivy. Johnsy watches him resist gusts of wind. It got dark, it started to rain, the wind blew even harder, and Johnsy has no doubt that the next morning she will not see this sheet. But she is mistaken: to her great surprise, the brave leaf continues to fight the bad weather. This makes a strong impression on Johnsy. She becomes ashamed of her cowardice, and she finds a desire to live. The doctor who visited her notes improvement. In his opinion, the chances of survival and death are already equal. He adds that the neighbor from below also caught pneumonia, but the poor man has no chance of recovery. A day later, the doctor says that now Johnsy’s life is in danger. In the evening, Sue tells her friend the sad news: old Berman died in the hospital. He caught a cold that rainy night when ivy lost the last sheet and the artist drew a new one and attached it to a branch in the pouring rain and icy wind. Berman still created his masterpiece.