Dortchen Wild, who lives in the small German kingdom of Hesse-Cassel in the early 19th century, finds herself irresistibly drawn to the boy next door. Forced to live under oppressive French rule, Wilhelm Grimm and his brothers preserve old half-forgotten tales. As Dortchen tells Wilhelm some of the most powerful and compelling stories in what one day will become his and Jacob's famous fairy tale collection, their love blossoms. But Dortchen's father will not give his consent for them to marry, and war, death and poverty also conspire to keep the lovers apart. Yet Dortchen is determined to find a way.

French novelist Charlotte-Rose de la Force has been banished from the court of Versailles by the Sun King, Louis XIV, after a series of scandalous love affairs. At the convent, she is comforted by an old nun, Sœur Seraphina, who tells her the tale of a young girl who, a hundred years earlier, is sold by her parents for a handful of bitter greens.