A secret hidden in a dead man's journal will destroy his family unless his widow and daughter learn how to overcome it.
When Isabella Audley returns home to Fairtown, NY for Christmas break for the first time in three-years she learns that her family is now poor. So to this forward-thinking woman of 1881 high-Society whose secret desires are to abolish Societal rules and marry a filthy-rich husband, she realizes to be dead would be the honorable option.
Excited to finally spend holiday with her mother, Lilly, see cherished friends, and step back into the life of privilege she's always known, her bliss is cut short just moments after returning to town.
While rummaging for decorations one afternoon, "Izzy" finds her deceased father's journal. When she learns that Lilly tried to hide the secret hidden in its pages (a secret that’s already set the course for their family’s destruction), their relationship deteriorates.
Only Thomas, a childhood friend, whom she soon discovers has a secret of his own, has it in his power to pull them from ruin. As Izzy finds herself falling for him, it's soon apparent that their difference in stations, caused by her slip in status, may prevent them from finding the happiness they were meant to have.