Meet Gretel Muller, a young German girl growing up in Galveston, Texas in 1855. Gretel dreams of living in a fairy-tale castle by the sea, but instead spends her days working with her short-tempered sisters in their mother's hat shop. When a rich resident announces that she wants a young German girl to come stay with her, Gretel sees her opportunity. But how will she ever get a chance when everyone thinks she's a lazy and foolish girl?