In 1839, the fallout of the miner's deadly Newport Rising in Wales savages a community. Two young siblings, thrust into a violent household, fight for life: Lilpah endures in the house of Sir Hugh Rigg, Jac escapes the brutality. Shipwrecked with his friend Ben off the coast of Korea, Jac is taken in by the Cheyju islanders who help heal the wounds of his past. Lilpah, bearing a child to Sir Hugh, learns survival the hard way. With her one friend Tippy, they protect her child from the monster who is his father by any means they can: deceit, blackmail, and betrayal. Through the dangers of the Opium War, to the explosive goldfields of Victoria, Jac lives comfortably on the River Murray, South Australia. But his hard-won security is threatened when a small entourage of businessmen arrives headed by Sir Hugh and his mistress, Lilpah. At their meeting, Jac is desperate for a reconciliation with his sister, but Lilpah, after years of abuse, reaches a damning decision. There is only one shocking solution, but can she save herself, and her son?