Upon the insistence of a friend, Emily White becomes a journalist in the coastal city of New Bedford, away from the yawning, farming community of Westport, where she lives. At the Daily Whaler, where the salt and pepper of everyday living is spliced into the printed word, she discovers her fascination with reporting on the more serious infractions of life-murder.

Unexpectedly, along with employment comes the indoctrination into a confidential society-one that deals with the heinous transgressions of abduction and the daring exploits of rescue and deliverance. To Emily, this is an adventure worth exploring. The time is 1861, and with civil war unfolding in the south, New Bedford has become a sacrarium by which southern slaves navigate salvation, away from bondage, and discover safe passage north to Canada on the rails of the Underground Railroad.

Though young Emily is immersed in the typical duties of reporting everyday life, both mundane and wicked, Underground Rail obligations draw her in. Before long, she finds herself on a ship south and a secret mission of inquiry and danger. Soon, the unexpected pragmatism of subjugation opens her eyes wide. And as she defies the brutality and injustice of plantation life, and the reality of her undisclosed investigation is exposed, it becomes more likely that Emily will never see her loving Westport ever again.