Present day: Julia Baxter's wedding veil, bequeathed to her great-grandmother by a mysterious woman on a train in the 1930s, has passed through generations of her family as a symbol of a happy marriage. But something tells her that even the veil's good luck isn't enough to make her marriage last forever. Panicked, she escapes to the Virgin Islands to clear her head. Her grandmother Babs, still grieving her husband's death, decides to move into a retirement community-and runs into an old flame. 1914, Asheville, NC: Socialite Edith Vanderbilt is struggling to manage the luxurious Biltmore Estate after the untimely death of her cherished husband. She is determined to uphold the Vanderbilt legacy-- and prepare her daughter Cornelia to inherit it-- in spite of their deteriorating financial situation. As Cornelia explores the rapidly changing world around her, she is torn between upholding tradition and pursuing the exciting future that lies beyond Biltmore's gilded gates. -- adapted from jacket