Charlotte Brontë, a parson's daughter from Yorkshire, longs for adventure. She conceives the idea of going abroad to study languages and persuades her sister Emily to accompany her to Brussels. This Catholic yet worldly capital comes as quite a culture shock to the Brontë sisters. In Madame Heger's elegant boarding house, amongst many wealthy and spoilt young ladies, Charlotte and Emily try to stay true to themselves. But then Charlotte falls in love with her teacher, Constantin Heger, the man of the house...
