The story of two women living very different, heroic lives in two very different Australias. Jess is a stunt-rider who can outride any man. In the early days of film she finds her calling, playing wild outlaw women who answer to no one. But when her circus-owner husband disappears she is left pregnant and vulnerable and after enormous betrayal, finds herself closer to the outlaw's life than she had ever imagined. Rose goes to Australia in the 1950s in search of a new life. But neither the new country nor motherhood are what she had hoped and she soon finds herself estranged from those she loves, incarcerated and terrified. As Rose's world unravels, it is clear that neither woman's story will be finished until they find a way of helping each other recover their loss, and to discover hope in the midst of their disrupted lives. With this odyssean tale, Kathryn Heyman celebrates the resilience of the human spirit.