Jilted by her near-beau in England, Florence Southam travels to the exotic new world of the Saskatchewan Prairies, both to attend the wedding of her closest friend and to recover from her recent disappointment. Through Florence’s eyes, the reader encounters a Victorian settlement attempting to mimic society life in England. Cannington is home to a medley of Canadians, British expatriates and would-be aristocrats. Despite outward appearances, Florence soon discovers that in Cannington, social niceties quickly give way to the practicalities of survival, and her own unquestioned beliefs are suddenly thrown into doubt by new possibilities of selfhood, and the potential of finding love outside the conventional social norms of her upbringing.