San Francisco, 1866. Emilia del Valle is born to an Irish nun, and raised by a loving stepfather in place of the Chilean aristocrat father who abandoned them. She grows into self-sufficient young woman and independent thinker, who will do whatever it takes to pursue her passion for writing - even publishing pulp fiction under a man's name.
When fictional worlds can no longer contain her sense of adventure, she convinces an editor at the Daily Examiner to hire her as a journalist. Emilia is paired with another talented reporter, Eric Whelan, and the two of them seize an opportunity to cover a brewing civil war in Chile.
But the journey offers Emilia more than just a chance to prove herself as a writer. As she delves deeper into the violent confrontation in the country where her roots lie, she's given the chance to discover what became of her estranged father - and soon finds herself caught between love, danger and destiny.