Paris, 1939: The pavement rumbles with the footfall of Nazi soldiers marching along the Champs Elysees. A young writer, recently arrived from Ireland to make his mark, smokes one last cigarette with his lover before the city they know is torn apart. Soon, he will put is life and those of his loved ones in mortal danger by joining the Resistance...

'If Elizabeth Bennet had the washing of her own petticoats,' Sarah thought, 'she would be more careful not to tramp through muddy fields.' It is wash-day for the housemaids at Longbourn House, and Sarah's hands are chapped and raw. Domestic life below stairs, ruled with a tender heart and an iron will by Mrs Hill the housekeeper, is about to be disturbed by the arrival of a new footman, bearing secrets and the scent of the sea.

Rachel travels to her mother's isolated country house in order to put her mother's affairs in order. However, along with the memories of her mother, Rachel feels something else, a presence. She grows ever more convinced that the house holds a message for her. Can the ghosts of the past be nudging their way into the present?

An epic, involving and exquisitely told story of inheritance and chance as it plays out in one family, across one century and four generations.