Secrets of a Charmed Life

In London, England, in 1940, 15-year-old Emmeline “Emmy” Downtree and her seven-year-old sister, Julia, are outside a shop called Primrose Bridal. The window was smashed sometime during the night. Julia asks Emmy if the Germans broke it, and Emmy replies that they did not, explaining that there would have been sirens. Since the start of the war, the Germans had been doing air raids, and the sisters and their mother have had to spend many nights in the shelter over the past year. However, it has been quiet for several weeks. Emmy has been sketching gowns for a while, and when she sees that the shop is hiring, she considers asking the shopkeeper for a job. Their mother, Annie, soon finds them and says she needs to go to the butcher. Julia does not want to go, but Emmy assures her they can wait outside.

As Emmy begins to follow their mother, she sees the shopkeeper accidentally cut her hand while cleaning up the shattered glass. She tells Julia to go ahead without her and helps the woman, whom she soon tells that she is interested in working at Primrose Bridal. The woman asks her how old she is, and Emmy answers that she is almost 16, though she is not going to be 16 for almost a year. After Emmy notes that she has some experience, the woman tells her to meet her at six with references, and Emmy decides she will need to use her sketches. The woman introduces herself as Mrs. Crofton. Emmy walks away and quickly finds Julia, who did not follow their mother because she did not want to go to the butcher shop. She asks Emmy about the woman, and Emmy replies that she was helping her clean the mess. The girls leave to catch up with their mother.

Emmy takes one of her mother’s dresses to wear to her meeting with Mrs. Crofton. She recalls her mother wearing the dress to a job interview as a kitchen maid for a wealthy widow named Mrs. Billingsley two years ago. At the time, her grandmother, whom she called Nana, was visiting and teaching her how to embroider. As Annie prepared for the interview, Nana worried that they would learn about Annie having two children with two different fathers out of wedlock. After Annie got the job and returned with the maid uniform, Nana made a distasteful comment about Annie’s work. Four months later, Nana died from a heart attack. Emmy gets ready to leave. Julia wants to go with her, but Emmy tells her sister to stay. Julia gives her the bride sketches to show Mrs. Crofton as references. Emmy assures her sister that she will not be gone long and tells her to draw some bride sketches while she is gone, and not to answer the door.

Emmy arrives at Primrose Bridal for her interview, and Mrs. Crofton re-introduces herself with her first name: Eloise. She asks Emmy how long she has been looking at the shop. Emmy replies that she started looking at the shop after her mother got a job in London two years ago before mentioning how much she loves the dresses. When Mrs. Crofton asks about Emmy’s experience, Emmy says that her grandmother taught her embroidering and stitching, and after Mrs. Crofton specifies retail experience, Emmy says that she saw the advertisement asking for someone to do alterations and hand-sewing. Satisfied, Mrs. Crofton gives Emmy 20 minutes to finish a hem, and she manages it in 17. Mrs. Crofton is impressed and plans to teach Emmy how to use a sewing machine.

Emmy shows Mrs. Crofton her sketches, which stun her. She asks Emmy if she did the drawings herself, and Emmy replies that she did. Emmy also notes that her mother does not draw, and then she lies about her father, claiming that he died when she was young. Emmy expresses a desire to design wedding gowns, and Mrs. Crofton says she cannot help her design the dresses in her sketches, but that her cousin Graham can and she will recommend Emmy to him. Emmy thanks her. She confesses to Mrs. Crofton that she just turned 15 in April and that she never knew her father or whether he is dead or alive. Mrs. Crofton hires her anyway, telling her to come on Tuesday. Elated, Emmy walks home and finds Julia asleep at the table, having drawn the brides with red polka-dot umbrellas.

After returning home, Emmy wakes up Julia and makes toast. She tells Julia that she got the job, and they both steadily realize that when Emmy starts working at Primrose Bridal, she will be separated from Julia. As Emmy tucks Julia into bed, Julia says she gave the brides umbrellas because they will need them if it rains during the wedding. When Annie arrives at the flat in the morning, Emmy asks why she got back so late. Her mother explains that she had to work late, and it was too dangerous to walk back home late at night. When Emmy smells men’s cologne on her that does not belong to Julia’s father, Neville, she confronts her. She also notices that she has been able to get a kitchen maid job with no experience and has been able to afford to give them a comfortable lifestyle despite being an unmarried single mother.

She suspects that her mother is engaging in sex work, and her mother breaks a teacup. Annie argues that she has made sacrifices for Emmy and Julia, and that Emmy has no right to criticize her for doing whatever she must for them. Emmy tells her mother that she does not need to degrade herself to support them, and that it is not her fault her mother got pregnant young and out of wedlock. When she informs her mother of her new job, Annie disapproves, but Emmy decides she does not need her mother’s permission. She then sees Julia, who asks why they are fighting. Emmy says their mother broke a teacup and was upset about it. They then go into their room and close the door.

Emmy’s first month at Primrose Bridal goes well, and she and her mother arrange to have Thea watch Julia. Mrs. Crofton informs Emmy that Graham is interested in taking her on as an apprentice and wants her to send him two of her sketches. Though she is hesitant, she agrees after Mrs. Crofton encourages her. At home, Emmy finds her mother at the kitchen table with whiskey. Her mother explains why she is upset: Neville died in a car accident, which she just learned about after reading a letter from his mother. Annie realized at that point that Emmy was right about him, and that he had lied about his parents being dead, his name, and other things. She demands that Emmy not tell Julia, but Emmy says her mother must tell her eventually. When Annie asks Emmy why he lied, she says that he might have wanted her sympathy, and that he was an actor. While making dinner, Emmy reveals to her mother that Mrs. Crofton’s cousin wants to make her his apprentice, and that she will still be able to care for Julia and attend school in September. However, Annie shows her another letter, this one from Emmy’s school, informing her that she and the other children in London will be evacuated the next month amid the German invasion.

During the previous evacuation of London’s children in August 1939, Emmy’s mother refused to send her and Julia away, and many other London parents took their kids back home. The majority of the other children returned home soon after that. However, following Dunkirk and rising tensions, there is now another evacuation order. Emmy begs her mother not to send her away, but Annie says she cannot refuse to do so a second time. Angry, Emmy accuses her mother of trying to get rid of her and Julia so she can have sex with men and live her life without them. Her mother informs Emmy that she and Julia will be leaving on Wednesday.

Emmy dreads having to tell Mrs. Crofton the news and has Thea watch Julia one last time. At Primrose Bridal, Emmy tells Mrs. Crofton she is leaving due to the evacuation order. Mrs. Crofton asks her if she still wants to send the sketches to Graham; Emmy says that she does, and that she will return to London as soon as she can. Mrs. Crofton promises to let her know more once she learns Emmy’s new address. She claims that she would send her daughter to the countryside just like Emmy’s mother is doing and reveals that her daughter died when she was six from a fever. Emmy gives her condolences.

Emmy and Julia arrive at Julia’s school to get on the bus that will take them to the countryside. There, they meet their mother, who gives them name tags to wear around their necks and labels for their luggage. Emmy tries to refuse her name tag, but Annie forces her to wear it. She says they are going to Moreton-in-Marsh, a town in which others from Julia’s and Emmy’s schools will be staying. Annie tells Emmy to make sure she and Julia do not get separated. Emmy then tells her mother that she ruins everything, and Annie reminds her to be careful of what she hates. When Julia expresses concern that Neville will not be able to find her, Annie assures her that she will take care of it. Annie tells Emmy to remember what she said. Before they leave, Emmy says that her mother thinks she knows everything, but she can make her own decisions despite being young. On the bus, Julia and Annie wave goodbye to each other, and Emmy and Annie exchange one last look, realizing how similar they are.