A nineteenth-century novel set in Queensland, Australia. Convict transportation had been ceased and the area opened to free settlement twenty-four years previously.
Lucy Dougall dies; her four children orphaned. Fifteen-year-old Sarah will do whatever it takes to keep the family together; just as her mother had done. Any thoughts of romance in her life are quashed. When, like a tsunami wave, disaster strikes, grief and self-loathing overwhelm Sarah. It is the proprietor of Millie's Mariner's Rest; Hotel and Lodging who takes the family in and offers Sarah work as a trainee housekeeper. The girl flourishes under Millie's care, but Sarah's trauma remains deep inside. Millie's stepson, Jacko, develops an attraction for the young woman but is at a loss to understand why Sarah retreats at the most innocent touch of his hand. With patience and wisdom gained from living her life on the edge of acceptable society, will Millie guide the damaged young girl to maturity?
Sarah's brothers, Josh and Gus, seek a berth on the Northern Orchid, the ship on which their father lost his life six years previously. Many who sail on the Northern Orchid believe Jimmy Dougall's ghost still walks the decks.
At Captain Sloan's request, the lads spend seven months working on the Brisbane docks. Under the tutelage of a retired friend of the captain's, their purview is to learn all they can of steam engines and ships. It is here, on the docks, the lads discover they must fight to protect their jobs.
The Northern Orchid, a coastal trader confronting the challenges of the partially mapped reefs of the Queensland Inner Channel, offers many experiences both in sea craft and in human nature. Will this be enough to carve young men from raw boys?
Captain Sloan and Mate MacGregor mentor Josh and Gus as a favour to the dead Jimmy Dougall who had saved their lives on the day he was killed. Despite this, a life is lost, another life teeters on the verge of death, another must face the Bowen magistrate.