At eighteen Cathie longs for more than life as a settler in the Australian bush. She accepts her uncle's offer to send her to England & runs away from her family, not realising he is using her to get revenge on her mother, Liza. Attacked at the docks in Liverpool, Cathie takes refuge with the man who saved her, a man who has his own troubles. But as she slowly regains her memory & meets her Lancashire relatives, she must confront the legacy of Liza