In 1905 England, Angel Deverell (Romola Garai) is a grocer's daughter who dreams of becoming a famous writer and inhabiting the gorgeous country mansion that she often walks past but cannot enter. The precocious young woman pours all her fanciful romantic longings into flowery prose that eventually attracts the attention of a well-heeled London publisher (Sam Neill); fame soon follows, washing over her like a tidal wave.
Based on a novel by British author Elizabeth Taylor.
Actually, I do agree with the first reviewer on some points, such as the girl traveling alone to London at such a young age. However, she protrayed such ambition and drive that it was easy to let this pass. I felt that the main actors were exceedingly good in their roles. Thoroughly loved the cinematography, and the music and costuming were outstanding, most especially that gorgeous red dress!! I will try to buy this movie, and definitely will watch it again!!
We rented this but only watched the first part it was that bad. They have the look of late-Victorian England close to right, but the plot and characters are totally unbelievable if you know anything at all about life at that time. Teenage girls did not talk back to their parents and schoolteachers in Victorian England, they certainly didn't travel to London to meet publishers without a chaperone, and as for arguing about not changing their novel... would the publisher have even asked? I bet they would just do what they felt was right and that's that. There were a lot of other smaller inconsistencies as well.