Helen Davenport, governess for a wealthy London household, longs for a family of her own?but nearing her late twenties, she knows her prospects are dim. Then she spots an advertisement seeking young women to marry New Zealand?s honorable bachelors and begins an affectionate correspondence with a gentleman farmer. When her church offers to pay her travels under an unusual arrangement, she jumps at the opportunity.

Meanwhile, not far away in Wales, beautiful and daring Gwyneira Silkham,(read more)