"To do a great right, do a little wrong."

1876. An Irish orphan with a dark past, young Fiona Shanahan emigrates to America and becomes a lady's maid to a wealthy New York socialite,

a safe haven where she reinvents herself. A lucky encounter lands her a spot on the Broadway stage, where she becomes a rising star until a

violent confrontation forces her to flee west to Chicago. She meets theater magnate Julius DeMonte, who offers her sanctuary as part of the

troupe aboard his showboat, Queen of Dreams, on its maiden voyage down the Mississippi. As they travel southward to New Orleans, Fiona discovers the reality of post-civil war America, very different from the gilded stages of New York. But Julius is far more than a simple theater producer, just as Fiona is far more than a na ve ingenue, and as she becomes entwined in Julius's intrigues, Fiona finds herself in greater danger than she's ever known before.