Margate, 1786: Dairymaid Molly Goodchild feels trapped by her circumstances. But she has a friend in apprentice gardener Charlie Drayson, and together they share a passion for flowers and herbs. Eager to better herself, Molly seizes the chance to work for her more affluent uncle. A friendship she strikes up with a young artist called Will Turner, drawn to Margate harbour to paint, fuels her aspirations towards a better kind of life. And when her dashing naval cousin Nicholas returns home, her head is turned by his flattering attentions . . .
