London, 1873. Madeleine Brewster marries Dr Lucius Everley in a union thatMaddie's parents hope will restore the family's sullied reputation. Lucius is acollector of natural curiosities, his 'Small Museum' of bones and things in jarskept under lock and key. His sister Grace runs Evergreen House for fallenw omen. Neither they nor the housekeepers will let Maddie have anyinvolvement in their work, and she is often alone and confused by what shesees and hears in the house. When Maddie demonstrates her skill for drawing, Lucius agrees to let her helphim in his attempt to make a breakthrough in evolutionary science, bydiscovering the first 'fish with feet'. But the more she learns about both Luciusand his sister's activities, she comes to suspect that behind their reputableworks lie unimaginable horrors. Framed for a crime that would see her hanged and allow the Everleys tocontinue their work unencumbered, Maddie's only hope is her friend CarolineFairly, who in alternating chapters attends her trial and starts to put the piecestogether...