when her widower father drowns at sea gemma hardy is taken from her native iceland to scotland to live with her kind uncle and his family but the death of her doting guardian leaves gemma under the care of her resentful aunt and it soon becomes clear that she is nothing more than an unwelcome guest at yew house when she receives a scholarship to a private school tenyearold gemma believes shes found the perfect solution and eagerly sets out again to a new home however at claypoole she finds herself treated as an unpaid servantto gemmas delight the school goes bankrupt and she takes a job as an au pair on the orkney islands the remote blackbird hall belongs to mr sinclair a london businessman his eightyearold niece is gemmas charge even before their first meeting gemma is like everyone on the island intrigued by mr sinclair rich by gemmas standards single flying in from london when he pleases hugh sinclair fills the house with life an unlikely couple the two are drawn to each other but gemmas biggest trial is about to begin a journey of passion and betrayal redemption and discovery that will lead her to a life of which shes never dreamedset in scotland and iceland in the 1950s and 60s the flight of gemma hardya captivating homage to charlotte bronts jane eyreis a sweeping saga that resurrects the timeless themes of the original but is destined to become a classic all its own