1897, Massachusetts. The young women at Mount Holyoke College are famous for their beauty and charm – except for plain, quiet Agnes and Bertha. They would rather write poetry and explore the dark woods of Killingly than talk about young men and ballgowns, and the other students find them rather peculiar.

One autumn morning, Bertha vanishes, leaving Agnes to wander the cold college halls alone.

While a search team dredges the pond where Bertha might have drowned, an eccentric private detective arrives in town. Before long, he discovers that plain, quiet Bertha was keeping a terrible secret. A secret that could cost Agnes her life and shatter the glittering reputation of Mount Holyoke forever…