This is a historical fiction novel set in early Australia. Criminals, rejects, and degenerates are shipped to Australia to help populate the new British colonies there. Those men thought they were heading to the gallows, but instead, they were shipped away to a new land.
There is a playwright named Farquhar who writes a play in Sydney. He decides to put the play on, and he hires actors, but no one in Australia can even read, so he sits and reads them each their lines one by one until they all have memorized his play.
The play reflects the public's questions and feelings about British colonialism and their criminal justice system. The novel tells about life at the penal colony.
A man named Baker is introduced, a settler from Plymouth, gone back to England and then shipped to Australia. The problem is that Baker has a wife in Plymouth, whom he believes he is still bound to by law and God. However, he meets Mary Brenham, a single woman and a petty thief (not so bad, all things considered). His resolve wanes as he and Mary become more and more involved.
They finally stage the play on the monarch's birthday. Baker's firm commitment to his wife ends up being not that firm, actually, and he marries Mary Brenham, deciding privately that it's okay to have one wife per continent. Baker impregnates his new young wife, but then leaves her to move back to Britain.
