When Evelyn Seaton and her mother are ejected by the bailiffs from their Yorkshire manor house, the blame lies squarely with Evelyn’s father, a gambler and chancer who has left them destitute. Seeking refuge with an elderly aunt in an unfashionable corner of York, their predicament is intensified by the spiteful Lady Violet who gloats in their disgrace.

Realizing that only an income will save them, Evelyn secretly answers an advertisement for a bookshop assistant at the dusty and shambling Lamplighter’s Bookshop. But she is not the only candidate... Competition comes in the person of William, a charming yet enigmatic writer hiding secrets of his own. Evelyn and William are too scared to trust each other, but every heart is a doorway, and all stories are waiting to be told.

Can Evelyn and William turn the page on theirs and find the courage to write the next chapter?