Fifteen-year-old kitchen maid, Emily's trials and ordeals begin when she is abused by the son of the lord of the manor and falsely accused of theft. Transported to the new colony, Australia she becomes one of the first settlers striving to establish a new life amongst prostitutes and thieves. In the face of male brutality she demonstrate her bravery and resilience and her caring nature towards her closest friends. The story embraces the gradually developing love between Emily and Royal Marine, Jimmy, although Emily is aware of her inferior status as a felon and faces a dilemma in accepting his love. The story gives a thought-provoking glimpse at the lives of the poor during the eighteenth century and highlights the situation many of them faced when, out of desperation, they slipped 'off the edge' of poverty into crime. It reveals the fear of the mariners who believed a ship reaching the Southern Ocean at the 'bottom of the world' will topple 'off the edge' into oblivion.