Maeve Fanning, who was raised in Boston’s North End by her widowed Irish mother, is determined to better herself despite the hardships of the Great Depression. However, she also has a dangerous fondness for strange men and bootleg gin—a rebellious appetite for experience that leads to a downward spiral in New York City and an involuntary admission to a remote psychiatric hospital upstate.

Upon her release, Maeve returns to Boston and lands a job at an antiques shop catering to the city’s wealthiest and most peculiar collectors. Run by an elusive English archeologist, the shop is a haven for the obscure and incredible, supplying one-of-a-kind artifacts to its customers while providing Maeve with unique access to New England’s social elite. While delivering a purchase to a wealthy family, Maeve is introduced to beautiful and charming socialite Diana Van der Laar—and recognizes her from the hospital.

Reunited with the increasingly unstable Diana and pursued by Diana’s brother James, Maeve becomes more entwined with the Van der Laar family. Bewitched by the family’s wealth and power, and desperate to leave her own past behind, Maeve is forced to confront just how far she’s willing to go to reinvent herself.