New York food writer Tressa returns from honeymoon worried that she has married her impossibly handsome new husband Dan out of panic rather than love. In 1930’s Ireland, her grandmother, Bernardine, has wed James, the quiet and unexciting local schoolteacher after her family is unable to raise a dowry to allow her to marry her true love, Michael. On her own wedding day, Tressa is offered her grandmother's diaries and hidden in the pages finds unexpected comfort, learning - amongst the timeless recipes for jam, soda bread and rhubarb tart - of an age old narrative about grandparents, her mother, and ultimately herself. And soon she realises that she has been given a true gift, for what she discovers is how to capture the perfect marriage.