From the ancient druids to modern naturalists, farming girls to duchesses, this book traces the lives of women through medieval times, during the Clearance years, and in the aftermath of the Industrial Revolution.

Sidony is a young English woman who, after fraudulently winning a writing competition, is sent by her editor to write a travel book on the near-mythical island of Hy Brasil. She comes across piracy, lost treasure, drug smuggling, political intrigue, an active volcano and a tragic love affair.

Tells of an 11th-century Viking exploration of the North Atlantic from the viewpoint of one extraordinary woman. Gudrid lives at the edge of the known world, in a landscape where the sea is the only connection to the shores beyond. She then takes a multi-layered voyage into the unknown.