It's 1894 and Phoeba Crupp, a young woman of spirit, is living with her eccentric family on a small vineyard in Victoria. They are surrounded by drought, danger and a rabbit plague, but Phoeba has friends and dreams and is content. Then a series of accidents brings the problems of money and men crashing into her life, and she is forced to confront the outside world and its threats to her freedom and innocence.