An orphan who believes that things are better than they seem changes the hearts of an entire town.

Anne Lister returns to Halifax, West Yorkshire in 1832, determined to transform the fate of her faded ancestral home, Shibden Hall, by reopening her coal mines and marrying well. However, the charismatic, single-minded Lister--who dresses in black from head to toe and has charmed her way into high society--has no intention of marrying a man. Instead, she is determined to stay true to her nature by marrying Ann Walker, a sheltered heiress who happens...