Unaware of the misery that surrounded her birth, for the first four years of her life all Ottilie Cartaret knows is love. And when her mother, Ma O'Flaherty, moves her family to what she believes will be rural bliss in St Elcombe in Cornwall, their fortunes seem set fair.

Tragedy strikes when Ma dies and young Ottilie soon finds herself in unfamiliar surroundings. Adopted by the Cartarets, the wealthy couple who run the Grand Hotel, she grows up pampered and spoilt, not only by her adoptive parents but by all the visitors-with the exception of their mysterious annual guest, nicknamed 'Blue Lady', with whom Ottilie is unknowingly and inextricably linked.

But as times change, and the regulars to the now decaying hotel die off, the Cartarets find they are unable to adapt to modern ways. Only Ottilie has the means save the Grand, even though she may sacrifice too much of herself before learning once again the power of love.