The enthusiastic members of Kirkbury's Art Circle meet regularly to share their interest in paintings, but their curiosity is aroused by a secretive new member. His knowledge of art is clearly superior to theirs. Lives and relationships are changed by encounters with paintings. Disillusioned young mother, Joanne Kavanagh, finds support in works by early women artists. Edwin Hartley, a philanthropic older man, plans a relief mission to Romania, but a moment of madness nearly turns his life in quite a different direction. Emily Farringdon's purchase of a Dutch landscape for her antique shop leads her on a historical quest and a journey into her own past. Her marriage seems on the brink of collapse when she consults Hadrian Gough about her picture and learns the strange story of his restoration of a Caravaggio. An unforseen crisis confronts her with a soul-searching dilemma.