A story charting the developing self-awareness of Sybylla Melvyn as she grows from an insecure tomboy to a self-assured woman. Sybylla wants to be a writer and stuns her family and friends by her insistence on following her dream. Despite the objections of her family acquaintances, she rejects the marriage proposal from the rich Harry Beecham to continue going her own way, in spite of the odds stacked against her in a repressive Victorian environment.