Amy and her brother Fenton, the grandchildren of the dazzling Lilith Lucas, arrive as orphans in the London of the 1860s. determined to find fame and fortune on the stage. But for Amy there is another, deeper quest - which is destined to set ablaze all the old embers of the family feud that has flared and smoldered throughout forty years. Her search for her forebears brings her into a family conflict that she cannot fully understand. But it also brings Amy a passionate attachment to a young man whose connections with the feuding families lie in faraway places.