In 1901, women had few rights and no vote to gain them, Artist Margaret Talbot faces a failing art career, a failing marriage and the emotional and physical pain of losing a child in stillbirth and nearly dying herself.
All Margaret ever wanted to do was to be a painter. She overcame prejudice and sexual harassment to enter the male dominated world of magazine illustrating. For ten years, she and her husband, John, have traveled the world creating magazine articles that she illustrates and he writes. John has been affectionate and supportive, marching in suffragette parades and losing his membership in a predominate club as a consequence.
Margaret suffers a stillbirth that nearly takes her life. John inexplicably turns cold and callous, withdrawing all physical and emotional contact, even to take her hand.
The Talbots travel to a fishing village where Margaret encounters many people. An elderly woman becomes a mentor and confidant. Another woman accuses her of being a witch. A man carries a funeral urn containing his dead wife's ashes everywhere he goes and talks to is as though she were still alive. Everyone else in the village talks to the urn as well.One young woman named Sara skips and jumps and sings nonsense songs. Margaret fears Sara suffers from a deep, childhood trauma, but some in the village say she is a selkie, a creature from Celtic mythology who lives on the land as a human and in the sea as a seal.
Through their influences and her own self-determination, Margaret strives to discover who she is and what she truly wants.