BEAUTY

Roderick Huston, a wealthy merchant and widower, has three daughters; Grace, Hope, and Honour. When Honour was a child she asked what her name meant and afterwards said she'd rather be named Beauty, a nickname which soon stuck. As she grows older, she feels the nickname is increasingly ill-fitting, as she remains plain while her sisters become lovelier and more socially adept. Grace becomes engaged to Robert Tucker, one of her father's ship captains, and Hope to a blacksmith named Gervain Woodhouse. When all of Huston's ships are lost at sea, Robert is presumed dead and the family become destitute. Gervain, who has decided to return to his home town in the countryside to become the new blacksmith there, makes the offer that they come with him, and they agree. After an arduous two-month journey, they arrive at the small town of Blue Hill.