In 1940s Brisbane, Lizzie O’Dea lies in a lock hospital bed, thinking about how she got there. Thinking about Joe, who’s been in gaol for twenty years.

Twenty-five years earlier, Lizzie wants to get away from her dad, a petty crim, and the memory of her mum. When she meets Joe at the races, he seems the right man to help her escape. But after they move to Townsville, Lizzie soon falls through what she thought would be a safety net. She starts working at the local brothel because she and Joe desperately need money – but then her work becomes something else. A living. A new life.

Skirting the edges of society, Lizzie lets go of rules and expectations, finding real love and true friendship. It’s a precarious life, though, and one day it has to collapse – with tragic consequences. And so Lizzie finds herself, two decades later, sick and worn-out, not having seen Joe in years. But she’s still alive, and maybe there’s hope yet.