It is 1856 and when Molly Pinner inherits her late aunt Florries mantle as Prestons most successful medium, she soon realizes that her aunt was not a magnet for spirits, but a clever con artist. Molly soon puts her qualms aside and takes well to her new trade. However, Molly finds herself battling an increasing sense of shame over her burgeoning sexualityover which she has less control than the so-called spirits she conjures for her credulous clients. Molly and William Hamilton, a successful businessman, embark on a passionate affair, and Mollys friendship with her oldest friend Jenny is destroyed when it transpires that William owns the mill where Jenny works. Molly soon finds herself married to a man she does not truly love, and pregnant with a child she does not want.