1910, India. Young and curious Alice grows up in her family’s sprawling compound with parents as remote as England, the cold country she has never seen. It is Raju, son of a servant, with whom she shares her secrets, but when they get too close, Alice’s father drags them apart, sending Raju far away and banishing Alice to England. 1944. Intelligent and kind Janaki is raised in an orphanage in India.

India, 1926: English Margaret arrives with her new husband Suraj at his family home, set amidst beautiful rolling hills, the air filled with the soft scent of spices and hibiscus flowers. Margaret is unwelcome, homesick and lonely, but her maid Archana, a young woman from an impoverished family, reminds her of her long-lost sister, a tiny glimpse of home in a faraway place. 

1939, India. Bindu holds her baby close, listening to the monsoon raging outside. She tries to hide her tears behind her sari as she hands her baby into a stranger’s arms, wondering if she will ever see her child again. When their small savings run out, Bindu reluctantly accepts an offer of marriage from the landlord’s entitled and often unpredictable son. In return, he promises to provide medical care for her beloved grandmother, but alone in a world she doesn’t understand, Bindu is desperately lonely. She soon finds solace in writing recipes and creating new spice mixes.

London, 1939. Orphan Clara Knight is haunted by childhood memories of her house being bombed and fire raining from the sky - she was miraculously pulled from the rubble, finding herself all alone. Determined to make a difference with her life, she has found solace in nursing and helping others. When the storm clouds of war return and a tragically injured soldier arrives at the hospital, Clara is instantly drawn to him and the stories he shares. When Clara falls pregnant, the growing life inside her is a glimmer of hope: she will finally have a family of her own again. 

When pregnant Jaya loses her mother, then her baby son, Arun, in a tragic cot death, her world crashes down. Overcome by grief and guilt, she begins to look for answers. Looking through her mother’s belongings, she finds two diaries and old photographs, carrying the smoky aroma of fire. A young boy smiles out at Jaya from every photograph - and in one, a family stand proudly in front of a sprawling mansion. Who is this child? And why did her mother treasure this memento of a regal family lost to the past?