The summer of 1957 is an idyllic time for Clare Hamilton, despite the recent loss of her beloved grandfather. She will shortly embark on her final year at Queens University, Belfast, and she is engaged to marry her teenage sweetheart, Andrew Richardson. Together they plan for a future that will take them far beyond the green hills of Ulster, to a farm in Canada.
But when their hopes and dreams are shattered by a family tragedy, Clare finds herself taking the Liverpool boat alone, to a new destination in Paris -- to a life of glamour, travel and excitement that the orphan Clare, growing up in the Irish countryside, could never have imagined. Within a short time, she has made friends, developed her own style, and built a career for herself with considerable success. Yet there is a part of Clare that will never forget Andrew, nor the beloved landscape of her childhood.