Emma Tremayne's world was a closed one of mansions and balls, and eventually, marriage to a rich man who would be chosen for her. She knew nothing of the mill workers who toiled in her family's factories or of their desperate struggles to survive. Until two Irish immigrants opened her eyes-and her heart: Bria, a young woman dying of consumption yet filled with the joy of living, and Shay McKenna, a revolutionary and idealist fighting for social justice. Now with a newly realized passion for life, Emma is willing to defy her past for both a cause and the man she loves. Only too late will she discover how far her powerful family will go to keep her in their world . . . and how tragedy, unthinkable betrayal, and danger will test both her courage and her heart.