1820, London. Sarah McCaffrey, fleeing arrest for her part in a failed rebellion, finds herself alone and on the run. She boards The Serpent, bound from London to the colony of New South Wales - and when the captain's reckless actions lead the ship to be dashed onto Sydney's notorious rocks, Sarah is the only survivor. Adopting a false identity, Sarah determines to make a new life for herself. She takes the first work she can find, under the formidable Molly Thistle, who runs a sprawling trade empire. Sarah begins to see that there is more than one way of changing the world, but her new life is thrown into chaos when her past follows her across the seas.
