Eleanor Anson begins a new life in turn-of-the-century Gibraltar. A woman with an extraordinary past, she has participated first-hand in the war against the French and has the scars—both physical and emotional—to prove it. Suddenly a property-owner, a business-woman, and a new mother, she believes her life to be settled and her future course set.

But with Napoleon rising to power in France, her world will not remain at peace. Nell finds herself tossed back into the storm of war in the Mediterranean. With a tenuous alias, an unlikely partner, and a young child, she must navigate the rough seas of the French invasion of Italy. A chance encounter with someone at the eye of the storm reopens old wounds and Nell must make some life-or-death decisions—lives not necessarily her own.