Illinois, 1874: 13-year-old Madelyn Branch, ashamed of the birthmark covering half her body, arrives in the town of Reliance, Illinois. Feeling rejected by her mother, Madelyn abandons her and goes into the service of Rose Werner, a suffragette and purveyor of black market birth control who sees in Madelyn a project and potential acolyte. While precocious, foolishly romantic Madelyn cares little for women's rights, Miss Rose pulls her into a world of stagecraft, politics and family intrigue.