On his eighth birthday, Edward is banished from his beloved home, Thornfield Hall, to learn his place in life. With the help of friends, enemies and a series of eccentric mentors, he discovers more than he might have wished about the ways of the men and women who will one day be his peers. Edward's journey takes him to the warm, languid shores of Jamaica, where he becomes entangled in the beguiling, unchecked lifestyle of the island, and with a certain enticing heiress. But the choices he makes there will haunt him desperately. It is only when he is finally able to return home, and encounters one stubborn, plain, young governess, that Edward can see any possibility of redemption and love.