When 18-year-old Kitty Carlisle's father dies in 1838, her suddenly impoverished mother hopes her beautiful daughter might at least find a good husband. But then Kitty is compromised by an unscrupulous adventurer, and she is banished in disgrace to the colonies. In the infamous whaling port of Kororareka - known as the Hell-Hole of the Pacific - Kitty falls in love with Rian Farrell, a mysterious sea captain with secrets of his own. Shocking events force her to flee the Bay of Islands for Sydney, but her independent heart leads her into a web of illicit sexual liaison, betrayal and death. Part one of the bestselling saga of love and adventure on the high seas in the Pacific of the 1800s, by one of our leading historical novelists. 'Challinor is extraordinarily talented.' - New Zealand Books