'At eighteen Cathie Ludlam longs for more than the hard, monotonous life of a settler in the Australian bush. Her mother Liza says her father's family don't want to see her and refuses to let her go to England to meet them. When she finds out accidentally that Josiah Ludlam was not her real father, Cathie is even more determined to find her English relations and accepts her uncle's offer to pay for her passage to England. She doesn't realise that Dermott is using her to get revenge on her mother.
Attacked in the docks at Liverpool, Cathie takes refuge with the man who saved her, though Magnus Hamilton has his own problems. But as she slowly regains her memory and meets her various Lancashire relatives, she must confront the legacy of her mother's past. And even in 1876, the same wealthy families who forced Liza and her husband Benedict to leave Lancashire are still powerful enough to threaten Cathie's happiness and safety, as well as that of anyone close to her.' - from author's website.