Gemma Jones

Major Sir John Farjeon, an old friend of Louisa's, begs her to cook a special dinner on the last night of Royal Ascot. She agrees, but what should have been a gourmet's delight becomes the melting pot for an unpleasant scandal.

Louisa is furious to learn that her landlords would like to terminate the lease and are looking for a breach of it on her part. So far, there is none, but life at the Bentinck is never dull and seldom free of trouble.

Louisa's success as a cook has brought her the notice of the Prince of Wales and of society. Louisa is approached from all quarters by potential suitors.

Louisa has thrown her husband, Augustus, and his overbearing sister out of the Bentinck and is determined to settle the hotel's enormous debts without help from anyone.

The summer of 1904 sees the Bentinck full of visitors. Louisa is delighted with her first rich American guest. She is less delighted when she finds that the three parties are becoming involved with each other in a way that borders on the criminal.

Charlie Tyrrell has become disillusioned with his new lifestyle as Lord Haslemere and is beginning to feel sorry for himself. However, a guest at the Bentinck brings Charlie to his senses with a horrifying revelation.

Charlie Haslemere decides that it is time he married and settled down. Louisa approves of his choice, but an old flame of Charlie's feels that she has a prior claim.

By the spring of 1902, Louisa's hotel has become the toast of London and she herself is the vital spark, which fires the heart of society. Her food is exquisite, her wine superb, and her personality can be matched by none. But can this state of affairs last forever?

After Alfie leaves his wife, Helena, to pursue his lost youth with a free-spirited call girl named Charmaine, Helena abandons rationality and surrenders her life to the loopy advice of a charlatan fortune teller. Meanwhile, daughter Sally develops a crush on her handsome boss, Greg, while her husband, Roy, becomes moonstruck over Dia, a mystery woman who catches his gaze through a nearby window. These four will find out how easy it is for their illusions...

1930s Germany. Literature professor John Halder (Viggo Mortensen) channels his personal troubles into a novel that advocates compassionate euthanasia. When the book is unexpectedly enlisted by powerful political figures in support of government propaganda, Halder finds his career rising in an optimistic current of nationalism and prosperity. But the changes in Halder’s fortunes correspond to an increasingly turbulent change in the political...