Set in 1820 contrary to Cornish moors' forbidding backdrop, the narrative follows the journey of young and energetic Mary who's forced to live with her Aunt Patience following her mother's death. Mary arrives at the Jamaica Inn to discover her Aunt can be really actually a shell of the carefree woman she remembers from her childhood, and instead finds a drudge who's firmly under the spell of her husband Joss. The Inn has no guests - that the rooms are locked and kept for storage however it becomes clear it's a cover, as Joss could be the leader of a smuggling ring, and Jamaica Inn the hub of his'free' trade.