Poppy Lovering is feeling somewhat frustrated with life as a farmer's wife in a remote corner of Cornwall. Spending her days baking bread or mucking out pigs under the watchful eye of her overbearing mother-in-law is hardly the glamorous life she had imagined for herself. Although her husband Sam is a decent man, he's taciturn, set in his ways, hardly the romantic type. Sometimes Poppy can't help but wonder why she ever accepted his proposal of marriage. So when a handsome young newspaper reporter starts to pay her attention, Poppy finds it hard to resist his flattery and charm. But Poppy is a naive and unworldly young woman, who has never ventured further than Penzance. She doesn't realize that an innocent flirtation can so easily lead to something far more dangerous, with devastating consequences for Poppy and her family.