Jo Venner returns to the small tin-mining village of Parmarth in Cornwall, to take up the post of schoolmistress. As a child she had spent happy days there playing with the local children, and enjoying the affection shown her by Celia Sayce, owner of the 'big house'. Rejected by her own mother, Jo had found in Celia the encouragement and love she craved. But now Celia is dead, and Parmarth has changed. Jo falls swiftly in love with Luke Vigus, an itinerant, half-gypsy dealer who stirs Jo to depths of passion she has never known before. But Luke is burdened with the responsibility of an alcoholic mother, and his three young half-siblings - and their relationship can never be accepted by the villagers. Marcus Lidgey, the schoolmaster, is drawn to Jo, and offers her the support she needs in her demanding role. Yet he too harbours dark secrets from his past, and is gradually, dreadfully, losing his mind...