Olive Wellwood, a famous children's book author of the late Victorian era, takes a young runaway named Philip into her storybook world, after her oldest boy spots him sketching in the basement of the new Victoria and Albert Museum. As wild parties and private books written for her children are discovered, treachery, darkness, and lies emerge, revealing the damaging truth about the Wellwood family. However, personal struggles and hidden desires become overshadowed by the changing tide in Europe and the end of the Golden Era.