Man turns against master under the threat of revolution…

1812, West Riding, Yorkshire

Mary Lister, a young governess, accepts a position at Liversedge Mill. But she arrives in the middle of a violent uproar.

The Luddites – bands of desperate men put out of work by new machines and reduced to starvation – have conspired to smash up the Mill and terrorise its master, the proud and unyielding William Arkwright.

During the stormy weeks that follow her arrival, Mary is torn between her sympathy for the poor and downtrodden of the rebellion, with whom her gentle cousin John Booth has sided, and her unwilling admiration for the indomitable Master of Liversedge.

Who will she eventually side with? Her head or her heart?