Born into a once-wealthy Manhattan family, Louisa Delafield survives by doing the one thing she's suited for in the early twentieth century - writing a society column. After the death of a police matron in a bombed brownstone, Louisa is driven to write stories of a more sordid nature. "Muckraking" goes against her upbringing, but once her blinders are off, she can't continue to protect the privileged.
Ellen Malloy came to America to escape the priests who told her she would go to hell for loving women. However, her job as a debutante's personal maid affords her no opportunity for a life, much less for finding love. After witnessing the death of a fellow servant during an illegal abortion, she flees her comfortable position in fear for her life.
One woman wants a news story; the other wants to avenge a friend's death. Two such different allies could hardly be imagined, but both are under the thumb of a corrupt system. Arrayed against them are a society abortionist, a white slavery ring, and powerful forces who work in the dark to keep their secrets from the light of day-some of whom may appear as their closest allies.
This book is a timely reminder of an era when a patriarchal system denied American women the right to control their own bodies and their own destinies.