1London, 1880. A dying Irish girl clutching her new-born baby drags herself to the sanctuary of an East End orphanage. The nuns raise Ettie O'Reilly as their own and provide her with the love and education she might never have had. But the lives of the nuns and orphans are soon crushed by a powerful and greedy bishop. Separated from friends and family, Ettie doesn't know who to trust. And when the boy who promised his undying love and loyalty betrays her, Ettie's world starts to crumble. Does she have the courage and wisdom to face the demons she long ago learned about from the Sisters of Clemency? Will the resolution of an undiscovered and painful secret be her making - or breaking?