1930s England: and for a group of friends it seems as if the sunny days of sailing, flying and love will never end. A deepwater sailing ship takes restless young Eliza McKee to a new life in glamorous London, but when she meets the handsome star of a talking film it's not quite the life she expects. Eliza's brother Pete yearns to fly, and pilot Billie Quinn can teach him. Pete calls her a sarcastic, scowling Amelia Earhart, but it's Billie who knows how much Pete has to learn. Eliza's aunt, actress Izabel Peres, hides a secret from the world: then she falls for lawyer Felix with his buccaneering smile, and a case of shellshock he believes is behind him. Doctor Harry Bell, Eliza's old shipmate, loves fascinating Charlotte, but Charlotte just loves flirting and gambling — especially with flyboy Pete's heart. For Eliza's friends, the days of contentment are fading before the gathering dusk of war. And when a great white barque encounters the coast one foggy night, more than an era of sail finds itself tested to the limits.