In 1969, 23-year-old starlet Lori Lovely shocks the world by ditching a promising film career to take vows of poverty, chastity and obedience as a Benedictine nun. Gossip columnists and scandal sheets can’t get enough of the story. Why would such a beautiful girl take the veil? Did it have anything to do with the tragic death of her costar, heartthrob singer Lucas Wesley? In 1990, Lu Tibbott is under the gun to complete her senior thesis in modern American history. She decides to dig into a true 20th-century mystery and write about her aunt Lori, now the Mother Abbess at a cloistered convent in rural New England. Mother Lori has refused all requests for interviews --- until Lu arrives at the abbey with a tape recorder in hand. To her delight, Mother Lori announces she’s finally ready to talk...but only if Lu is truly ready to listen.

Tucked into the southernmost curve of the Caribbean, Mustique is a private island that has become a haven for the wealthy and privileged. Its owner is the eccentric British playboy Colin Tennant, who is determined to turn this speck of white sand into a luxurious neo-colonial retreat for his rich friends and into a royal court in exile for the Queen’s rebellious sister, Princess Margaret. Willy May Michael, a former beauty queen from Texas, seeks out Mustique for its peaceful isolation. Determined to rebuild her life and her relationships with her two daughters, she constructs a fanciful white beach house across the island from Princess Margaret. But when Willy May’s daughters arrive, they discover that beneath its veneer of decadence, Mustique has a dark side.

Marilla Cuthbert is 13 years old when her beloved mother dies in childbirth, and she suddenly must bear the responsibilities of a farm wife. Her one connection to the wider world is Aunt Elizabeth "Izzy" Johnson, her mother’s sister, who managed to escape to the bustling city of St. Catharines. Aunt Izzy’s talent as a seamstress has allowed her to build a thriving business and make her own way in the world. Emboldened by her aunt, Marilla dares to venture beyond the safety of Green Gables and discovers new friends and new opportunities. However, she soon finds herself caught up in the dangerous work of politics, and abolition --- jeopardizing all she cherishes, including her bond with her dearest John Blythe.

When Sarah Brown, daughter of abolitionist John Brown, realizes that her artistic talents may be able to help save the lives of slaves fleeing north, she becomes one of the Underground Railroad’s leading mapmakers, taking her cues from the slave code quilts and hiding her maps within her paintings. She boldly embraces this calling after being told the shocking news that she can’t bear children. But as the country steers toward bloody civil war, Sarah faces difficult sacrifices that could put all she loves in peril.