Thirty-year-old Eve Sharland is normally browsing a Pennsylvania classic store when she discovers an old brass lantern saved on a shelf. She picks it up and sees something behind one of the sooty cup panes. To her shock, she discovers an unopened letter stuck inside.

The notice is postmarked December 24, 1885, which is addressed to Evelyn Sharland in NEW YORK. Eve gasps and drops the notice. That’s her name! The letter is normally addressed to someone with her name in 1885: Evelyn Sharland.

Eve about The Christmas Eve Letter purchases the lantern and the notice, and comes back to her New York City apartment. Later on that night, she opens the notice and reads it, astounded by its contents. She stares on the lantern in wonder and alarm, deeply moved by the story of a tragic romance.

A few days afterwards, following a request in the notice, Eve cautiously lighting the lantern. To her utter shock, she finds herself in the past-in 1885 New York City. Eve is tossed into a lifestyle much beyond what she could have ever imagined, as she gets involved with among the richest families in New York City, and fits the handsome Patrick Gantly. She must struggle to survive and go back to her own time, even as her destiny is usually changed forever.