Poppy Lovering is feeling somewhat frustrated with life as a farmer's wife in a remote corner of Cornwall. Spending her days baking bread or mucking out pigs under the watchful eye of her overbearing mother-in-law is hardly the glamorous life she had imagined for herself. Although her husband Sam is a decent man, he's taciturn, set in his ways, hardly the romantic type. Sometimes Poppy can't help but wonder why she ever accepted his proposal of marriage. So when a handsome young newspaper reporter starts to pay her attention, Poppy finds it hard to resist his flattery and charm. But Poppy is a naive and unworldly young woman, who has never ventured further than Penzance. She doesn't realise that an innocent flirtation can so easily lead to something far more dangerous - with devastating consequences for Poppy and her family.