Theirs was a love so strong it could only be spoken of in secret. Ralph Fiennes follows up his directorial debut (Coriolanus) with a period romance delving into the private life of fabled author Charles Dickens, co-starring rising British sweetheart Felicity Jones (The Tempest, Like Crazy).

Jones plays Nelly Ternan, the one-time lover of Charles Dickens (Fiennes). Although Dickens and Ternan had struggled to keep their affair secret, Nelly now faces unwanted scrutiny into her past, and is forced to relive the scandal alone, as middle-aged Dickens was already married with children when he and the 18-year-old actress first cross paths romantically. What follows is a tempestuous relationship that threatens to tear apart Dickens’ own marriage while providing the inspiration for new characters, all while avoiding the watchful gaze of the press.

Based largely on Claire Tomalin’s well-researched and recently re-released 1990 book of the same name, the film promises to provide plenty of talking points for future book clubs and Dickens fans.