The year is 1861, and America is on the brink of Civil War. Young Caitlyn O'Malley travels west to escape an abusive home. She eventually makes her way to Virginia City, Nevada, and plies her trade as a soiled dove. Experience the Old West through the eyes of a frontier prostitute who witnessed the unfolding of many historical events such as the advent of fresh water to the town, the coming of the railroad, and the Yellow Jacket Mine disaster.
Join her as she meets such luminaries as Mark Twain, Dan De Quille, Rose May, Susan B. Anthony, and Nellie Verill Mighels, a pioneering woman and editor of the local newspaper, the Carson Appeal.
Caitlyn, like many other prostitutes, struggles with addiction to whiskey and opium. She desperately loves a dark, evil man who cruelly toys with her emotions. After the Great Fire of 1875, she finds herself in Carson City, Nevada, where she is introduced to church. The thematic illustration of God's grace is unveiled as Caitlyn experiences the ebb and flow of life.
Will she ever find freedom from her addictions? Will she ever find a way out of the dark abyss of prostitution? Is it possible for her to find a romance with a decent and respectable man?
Follow her journey as she interacts with the inhabitants of the Old West in this fast-paced novel that tells not only Caitlyn's story but that of Virginia City experiencing its own meteoric rise and eventual decline.