Emma Poldark, cossetted teenage daughter of Port Arthur's Commandant, is helplessly in love with the suave doctor, Hugh Chilcott. She spends her days walking her dog desperately hoping to speak to him. Jack Wainwright, arrested in London for a trivial offence is transported to Van Diemen's Land, chained to hardened criminals, to face the horror of life as a convict. At Port Arthur Jack and Emma's lives unexpectedly collide, setting off a series of events that are authentic, humorous, poignant and utterly compelling. This intensely moving, racy novel vividly brings history to life - the genteel clink of teacups, the rustling of satin gowns, a piano playing a long-forgotten melody, a parallel world existing alongside the dark world of the penal system - the clank of metal chains, the brutality and hopelessness of the convicts' lives, their anger and despair. And the realisation that appearances are not always what they seem to be.