Nelly (Felicity Jones) is haunted by her past. Her memories take us back in time to follow the story of her relationship with Charles Dickens (Ralph Fiennes) with who she discovered an exciting but fragile complicity. Dickens – famous, controlling and emotionally isolated within his success – falls for Nelly. As Nelly becomes the focus of Dickens’ passion and his muse, for both of them secrecy is the price, and for Nelly a life of “invisibility”.