There are specific memories a mind has to repress-tragic events, a troubled home, or in Emilia's case, the first three years of her life. But, for the most part, she was okay with it. She didn't want to remember the family who abandoned her or wonder where they'd gone. Instead, she was content to grow up with her loving, adoptive family.

Emilia would soon find out that time was tired of waiting. While searching through documents for a clue concerning the identity of her birth parents, Emilia and her friend, Shay, find themselves propelled into the nineteenth century, utterly unprepared for the prejudices and violence, gangs and brothels, or for a time when being a woman is a danger in itself.

When Shay goes missing, Emilia searches the North End of Boston for the only person who can help-Thomas O'Connor, a handsome, broody Irishman far more complicated than his last name. As they hunt for Shay and a way to return to the future, Emilia and Thomas find it increasingly difficult to deny their attraction to one another while navigating the imminent threat of the Civil War.

Emilia quickly discovers the longer the stay, the more dangerous it is. For she may have forgotten those memories, they never forgot her. And they'd be knocking at her door soon enough.