When Eliza James lands a job with a £60000 salary, all her troubles seem to be over. She will be able to pay off her debts and secure her future, as well as that of her younger sister Abby. The problem is that she doesn't know what the job entails; it also requires her to live in the secluded home of her employer, the mysterious Stefan Bainbridge. Despite the misgivings of her boyfriend and sister, Eliza travels to the imposing Beatrice House, where she finds labyrinthine corridors filled with rare artworks, a garden suspended in perpetual summer, and the despotic Mr. Bainbridge, on whom she is not allowed to set eyes. What is Stefan Bainbridge's dark secret? And, by entering his domain, has Eliza James made the biggest mistake of her life?