A handsome young journalist, Daniel Parish, arrives in Lark Rise with exciting news for the Timmins family: Emma is set to inherit a fortune, enough to move the family to a big house in Candleford. Will the Timmins turn their backs on Lark Rise forever?

Daniel plans to write their rags to riches story for his newspaper, but Dorcas is suspicious of his motives, and when the article is published, it sends shockwaves through the community. Can the growing attachment between Laura and Daniel survive the crisis?

Alf throws a party to celebrate moving into a cottage of his own. He entertains his guests with a new song, and its haunting words have a profound effect on all of them.

Edmund rebels against his parents; Thomas and Margaret have their first marital tiff; and Dorcas's plans to prepare Minnie for marriage and motherhood backfire terribly.

How will harmony be restored? And what are the contents of the strange and wonderful parcel that arrives at the post office, which Minnie wants to keep a secret?