It's 1903 and bookish, bespectacled Vita Carew longs to be left to her studies, but her aunt insists they attend a gala dinner at Pemberton Hall, home of a girlhood friend. A glamorous German opera singer is to perform, and the grandest of company will enjoy a lavish dinner to mark the household's return to high society after a run of misfortune. But Vita soon notices dark undercurrents at the grand country house. What strange...