A young lieutenant Abbott Bragg, dismissed from the King's army for an indiscretion with his commanding officers wife, commits a minor crime leading to his transportation to Van Diemans Land. Here he meets fellow prisoner, 'French Frank', also enjoying the hospitality of the King, and Nathina, a young Aboriginal woman. Following a creative and daring escape Abbott and French Frank become bushrangers. Meanwhile, Nathina is taken to London as a 'live exhibit' in the name of nineteenth-century science, which included dark tales of preserved Aboriginal heads sent to the British Museum. This is a rollicking tale of violence, adventure and love in its many forms. It is populated with a rich cast of characters as might be expected in a remote outpost where almost everyone is escaping from something.