Set in aristocratic 19th-century England, this heartwarming, Jane Austen-inspired novel explores how three sisters manage to contend with their societal expectations to marry well. Jane Phillips, the eldest sister, is told she must marry her childhood friend, Alexander Cawdor, who, unbeknownst to her, is in love with somebody else. Abigail Phillips, the youngest sister, learns to defy societal traditions by associating with the lower-class and ultimately falling in love with one of their own. Bess Phillips, the heroine around which this story revolves, undergoes adventures involving blundered romances and complicated family predicaments to become a beloved protagonist, who eventually learns to not only accept but embrace the distorted society in which she lives.