Three ornate spinning wheels languish in the abandoned Queen Anne mansion Ben and Sigrun Letellier purchase for a pittance, along with a trunk full of documents in 19th-century German script. Sigrun is certain they'll uncover a rewarding romantic connection if they can decipher the correspondence of Lemuel Kunz, who built their "e;castle"e; and the salon wheels buried inside it. But the deeper they pry into the deceased spinning wheel maker's life, the clearer it becomes that Kunz decides to "e;help"e; them. And when the cabinetmaker's plans for building his wheels show up out of nowhere, Sigrun's troubled brother ventures to emulate Kunz's feat. Lars's effort to craft a Saxony wheel that would do Queen Victoria proud, using the very lathes and chisels Kunz himself used, emerges as a desperate quest to overcome his ego's bruising at the hands of homophobic bullies, and earn his unsuspecting father's respect.
