The Paradise

ÖZET

In 1875 country girl Denise Lovett arrives in Newcastle to work in her uncle Edmund's drapery shop but he cannot afford to take on new staff due to the competition from the Paradise,the newly opened department store run by handsome go-getter John Moray. Denise gets a job in the Paradise's haberdashery department along with friendly Pauline and catty Clara,who once had a fling with Moray - supervised by the strict Miss Audrey. Moray's assistant Dudley is perturbed that Moray is buying on credit without the funds to pay his suppliers so Moray persuades Lord Glendenning to invest in the Paradise whilst telling Glendenning's daughter Katherine tht he cannot marry her as she had hoped. He uses as his excuse the memory of his late wife. When Clara tries to humiliate her in front of Katherine Denise reverses the situation,proving she is an excellent saleswoman,and she receives Moray's personal thanks and the guarantee of permanent employment. Moray also instigates a sale,which does very well though it is interrupted by an irate Edmund.