In 1898 three young girls leave a Dublin orphanage to enter a life of domestic service. They are placed in the home of Captain Charles Whitmore, but he is preparing to set off on a long sea voyage. His wife Georgina, desperate to break free from a violent marriage, is relieved that the captain will be gone, but she is left in poverty. Then an organisation that helps women escape abuse makes Georgina an offer. They propose that her house should become a school to train women for employment in the American West. Can the orphan maids dare dream of a better life for themselves?
