It is 1815, and Napoleon has been defeated. Lieutenant Ralph Fairfax returns to England haunted by his war in Spain. His hopes for peace are shattered by the secret his father never confessed. Instead of marrying his neighbour Flavia Stanton, he is kidnapped, and wakes as a convict, bound for the prison colony of New South Wales. Here he must fight to survive, trapped between his conflicting identities as gentleman and convict. Meanwhile Flavia, devastated by Ralphs desertion, tries to rebuild her life. But her generosity and growing awareness of injustice set her at odds with her family. A...