Painter Vanessa Stephen and her writer sister Virginia embark on a life of unexpected, post-Victorian freedom in bohemian Bloomsbury. But when they are introduced to flamboyant male admirers, their idyll is rocked and the sisters' relationship is threatened.

As war descends on Europe, the Bloomsbury friends struggle to build a life outside London. Virginia weds Leonard Woolf and begins a unique, unexpectedly happy marriage, which is in stark contrast to Vanessa and Clive's failing relationship. Vanessa comes to the painful realisation that she is in love with gay Duncan Grant and so begins a life devoted to him, painting and her children.

Vanessa and Duncan's daughter Angelica is grown up but still unaware of her true parentage. As tragedy hits the family, Vanessa is finally galvanised into revealing the secret she's withheld for so long. Angelica's horror at the betrayal is painfully damning of her upbringing and threatens to drive a lasting wedge between mother and daughter.