Sleeping Fires is a gripping Victorian melodrama about Madeleine, a brilliant young woman from Boston who comes to San Francisco after the Civil War as bride of gruff Dr. Talbot. She soon wearies of her successful role in high society and turns to Langdon Masters, an intellectual and journalist from Virginia who reintroduces her to the world of ideas. This launches a shocking series of events that forces Madeleine to take charge and save them both from self-destruction.