Thirteen-year-old Hazel leaves her comfortable, if somewhat unconventional, London home in 1913 after her father has a breakdown, and goes to live in the Caribbean on her grandparents' sugar plantation where she discovers some shocking family secrets.

A satirical look at Victorian manners recounting the experiences of two finishing school graduates, Becky Sharp and Amelia Sedley.

When a fever leaves her deaf at the age of sixteen, shattering her hopes of marriage, Veda Grenfell turns her exceptional talent to her father's prestigious Savile Row tailoring firm. She abandons her beloved Savile Row and sets off on a treacherous journey into a world of deception, murder and madness after being betrayed by Harry Breadalbane, heir to an earldom.