A novel of passion, corruption, greed and murder set against the background of the British fashion industry. When the head of a leading fashion empire is murdered, the result is a period of vicious boardroom in-fighting between the remaining family members for control. It is the old man's daughter, Augustine, who shines forth as his natural successor - but the rest of the family want to sell out to multinational competition. As Augustine struggles to keep the empire afloat, she comes across the diaries and letters of an ancestor, the Jewish immigrant Rosa, who founded the company in London's East End a century before. As she reads of how the rag trade industry was built on suffering and persecution, yet sees how love of the business of designing and making clothes shone through, Augustine grows even more determined to succeed in this trade that is in her blood. She is determined, too, to solve the dark mystery that surrounds her father's death and now threatens her chances of love and happiness.