Beautiful, spoilt and irrepressibly witty, Emma Woodhouse enjoys a position of power and privilege in the small country town of Highbury. Lacking neither fortune nor consequence, Emma sees no attraction in marriage, preferring instead to exercise her considerable intelligence match-making between her friends and acquaintances. The arrival of sweet, silly Harriet Smith gives her the perfect opportunity to embark upon further schemes, greatly trying the patience of her old friend Mr Knightley.

Mary Abacus, tenacious, spirited and a woman of independent mind, has arrived in her new land under the most onerous of circumstances. Sometime mistress of the notorious London criminal Ikey Solomon, Mary has been transported to Van Dieman's land for running a bawdy house. She is soon joined on the convict settlement by Ikey and his wife Hannah, herself a strong minded woman, consumed by warring passions, a great love for her children and a loathing for her husband and his mistress.