Halifax, 1832. Anne Lister returns from Hastings to Shibden Hall, having discovered that her would-be companion and lover, the aristocratic Vere Hobart, has accepted a marriage proposal from a man. Despite her affection for her elderly aunt, Anne is frustrated by the shabbiness of her ancestral home and finds her father and long-suffering sister difficult to live with.

Anne begins a playful but dangerous courtship of shy local heiress Miss Walker, who quickly finds herself captivated by the attention of her charismatic and unusual neighbour. Anne's plan to renovate Shibden Hall is also stepping up a gear, and her determination to sink her own coal mines brings her into the path of local magistrate Christopher Rawson and his brother Jeremiah.