Jennifer is in solitary confinement, imprisoned for an undisclosed crime. Denied companionship and made desperate by the cruel tedium of her surroundings, she escapes into a world of memory and imagination. In love with an easygoing jazz musician called Tom, she had found herself caught up in an obsessive and unyielding passion.
Peggy Maybee, Jennifer's ancestor, was transported for stealing a peacock. That is all that is known about Peggy but Jennifer conjures a life for her aboard a convict ship bound for Botany Bay. A partial eclipse of the moon used by the captain as inspiration for a sermon triggers a mutiny and, amidst the chaos of brawling thieves, cut-throats, whores and crew, Peggy makes a bid for freedom.
