In the 1920s, decades after the troubled and unhappy marriage between Soames Forsyte and the beautiful pianist Irene Heron came to an end, Soames and Irene have both remarried and moved on. Irene is happily married with a son to Jolyon Forsyte - causing Jolyon to be even further considered as an outcast and traitor by the Forsytes - and Soames to the beautiful, yet very unfaithful, Frenchwoman Annette. With Annette, Soames also finally has the child he so desperately wanted, and, at the age of 18, his daughter Fleur knows exactly how to get whatever she wants from doting and indulgent father. The pain of the past is however once again about to resurface as Fleur, despite Soames's efforts, meets and falls deeply in love with Irene and Jolyon's 18-year-old son Jon. As the young lovers embark on their passionate love affair, they have no idea of the obsession, unhappiness, adultery, rape, and possessive, unrequited love that lie in their parents' past.