Omaha, 1905: During the gilded age, when women live subjugated to men, eighteen-year-old Bridget prides herself on having earned acceptance to medical school.

When her father is murdered, a crime that does not interest the law because he was half Native American, she risks her plans to become a doctor, determined to avenge his murder.

Bridget's quest thrusts her into a world of seedy men and glitzy women in one of Omaha's most opulent brothels. There, she finds herself the prey rather than the hunter.

If she is to survive, she must keep the reclusive madam's shocking secrets, learn to trust her heart's yearning for the man who befriends her, and embrace her complicated alliance with a community of notorious women considered society's lowest.