Rachel Katzman and Liam Finucane are time travelers, sent to the England of 1815 from a technologically advanced future, trained by The Royal Institute for Special Topics in Physics. Posing as wealthy West Indies doctor and his spinster sister, their mission is to meet, befriend, and steal from Jane Austen herself. They infiltrate Austen's circle via her favorite brother, Henry, to diagnose Jane's fatal illness and obtain an unpublished novel hinted at in her letters. Rachel and Liam struggle with their directive to leave history intact and exactly as they found it... however heartbreaking that may prove.