What if Romeo and Juliet had not died? What if their plan had succeeded and they had run away together? "Sweet Sorrow, Bitter Joy," set in Edwardian England, shows the young couple, with the help of a well-meaning but imprudent local vicar, escaping to start their new life together. With their feuding families reeling over the relationship between the two youngsters and the abrupt killing of another young man in the heat of the moment, circumstances are stacked against the adolescent couple from the start of their union. The shocking reaction of the feuding families leaves a bitter aftertaste in the wake of the departure of the two young people, revealing the hypocrisy of those who care more for reputation than for relationships.
The two women of Stonewick Park, the lady of the house and the nurse, share the tale of young love overshadowed by recklessness and the pressure of outside influences. It is not a story of the star-crossed lovers, but of the star-crossed mothers who must cope with the loss of their children. In the end, it is the unconditional, eternal love of mother and child that conquers all.