In tumultuous London of the 1870s, rude new wealth and staggering poverty smash the old order. Unfortunately, there were casualties...

"God in heaven, the child's alive!"

Abandoned, newborn, in a gutter, plucky little Katie refuses to die. Yet as street urchin, drudge and starving pickpocket odds against her survival increase by the day.

Too bad her only hope lies in a fiercely warring crew of do-gooders, crooks, social climbers and rebel misfits behind a fledgling scheme to give destitute waifs and strays new lives in Canada. So far their efforts only ignite a wild, winner-take-all battle of ambition from the lowest criminal dives to the Prince of Wales himself while too many sticky fingers grab for the cash.

From this hotbed of obsessive passion and renegade lovers a new breed fights to win their own freedom, longing to trade England at her peak for a wild risk on infant Canada, the Tomorrow Country. They are Canadians-in-the-making.

If only they are not too late for Katie...