Manhattan, 1964. Vivian Schuyler has recently defied the privilege of her storied old Fifth Avenue family to do the unthinkable for a budding socialite: break into the Mad Men world of razor-stylish Metropolitan magazine. But when she receives a bulky overseas parcel in the mail, the contents draw her back into her family’s past, and the hushed-over crime of an aunt she never knew. Berlin, 1914. Violet Schuyler Grant endures her marriage to the philandering older scientist Dr. Walter Grant for one reason: he provides the support to her position as a young American female physicist. Lionel Richardson, a captain in the British Army, challenges Violet to escape her husband’s perverse hold, and as the world edges into war and Lionel’s true motives become evident, Violet is tempted to take the ultimate step to set herself free.