London, 1870. A terrifying place for a young, beautiful woman of limited means. But Eliza is modern before her time. Not for her the stifling if respectable conventionality of marriage, children, domestic drudgery. She longs for more. Through her work as an artist's model, she meets the magnetic and irascible Devil, a born showman whose dream is to run his own theatre company. At any cost. As Eliza gets drawn into the seductive and dangerous world of music halls, gambling and makeshift rehearsals, she risks not only her heart, but also her life.