After losing his wife seven years earlier, the eccentric Dr. John Dolittle, famed doctor and veterinarian of Queen Victoria's England, hides behind the walls of Dolittle Manor with only his menagerie of exotic animals for company. But when the young queen falls gravely ill, a reluctant Dolittle is forced to set sail on an epic adventure to a mythical island in search of a cure. The doctor is joined on his quest by a young, self-appointed apprentice...

Based on a true story it is, in its way, a horror story, this portrait of a dazzling young woman at the mercy of the misfortunes of love and the inequalities of the age in which she lived. Married off as an innocent 17-year-old to a much older man, his only interest in the match is her ability to produce a male heir. Installed within the gilded cage of marriage, she discovers he expresses more affection for his dogs than for her. When the first child...