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?