It's 1853 and 20-year-old Ellen Garrow is summarily married off to an Australian sheep farmer, Rawley Winthrop. The Winthrop household to which she is consigned is distinctly unwelcoming, which includes her new husband. The only exception is his brother Joseph, who becomes her only adult friend. A humdrum way of life is shattered by a double calamity, resulting in the brothers heading off to the gold fields to try and recoup their losses. When after considerable time nothing is heard from them, Ellen decides to follow them... and her adventures really begin-culminating in a spell in gaol as a suspected murderer! How will she escape the clutches of the law? Will she ever find her husband and his brother? Will the Winthrop sheep farming enterprise survive? Who will finally be in charge?