Raised on the fiercely repressive Scottish isle of St. Kilda, feisty Abigail McQueen is both envied and scorned by the villagers for her independent ways. But nothing stops her from defying their primitive mores, which call for birthing practices that result in most newborns' dying of mysterious disease. And when terrible tragedy claims both her husband and her baby, the shattered Abigail begins her relentless search for a cure.

It is the start of a journey that will tak her from the wilds of Scotland to the lavish social whirl and sophistication of Victorian England, where she falls in love with a daring American sea captain, to a tropical island off Civil War - torn Florida. There, even with the war raging all around her, Abigail clings to her ideals, dreams, and desires.

Afire with the spirit and courage of an extraordinary heroine, this spellbinding romantic saga brims with the passion, tragedy, and authentic detail of history in the making.