This is a vivid and powerful Australian drama/thriller set in the 1880's.

A teenage girl from a good family is ensnared by a corrupt and ruthless lawyer and forced to live in his sordid little brothel on the outskirts of the rural gold-mining town of Gympie.

The town is beginning to grow, and the lawyer expects his business to boom, but he knows the task is beyond German Anna, his ageing brothel madam.

German Anna takes the girl under her wing to train her in the operation of the brothel, and Mary struggles to overcome her fear and distaste for the life she is being forced to live.

It is a lonely life for Mary, but as she becomes stronger and more confident, it becomes evident that the lawyer has badly underestimated her intelligence.

As the business expands, she employs a quiet, stoic ex-soldier to protect her, but as much as she needs to trust him, she discovers he owes his allegiance to the lawyer.

Her brief love affair with a mysterious American on the run prepares her for the long and arduous trip to Brisbane on business. But the road is dangerous and she has been betrayed, and is forced to fight to survive in a battle that will make her a household name across the country.

Her driving ambition to better herself sets the scene for a major confrontation with the lawyer. Her struggle to free herself from his controlling grip will put her own sanity at risk, but will ultimately expose a secret that will bring about the lawyer's own destruction.