When a young plantation heiress - obscuring her identity with a dark, hooded cloak and in possession of a small notebook and pencil - boards an evening train seconds before it leaves Stropping station, nothing could have prepared her for the terrifyingly dark Victorian underworld into which she plunges. In pursuit of her errant fianci Roger Bascombe, Miss Temple is thrust into a maelstrom of dangerous temptations, hidden identities, airships and automatons, her only companions a mercenary framed for the murder of a man he was supposed to have killed but did not, and a military physician charged with concealing the debaucheries of a dissolute crown prince. Together they forge an unlikely alliance against a ruthless conspiracy, empowered by a mysterious blue glass capable of entrapping memory itself. In this exhilarating debut, G.W. Dahlquist introduces a wonderfully original cast of characters: the irrepressible Celestial Temple, the enigmatic Cardinal Chang, the hypnotic Contessa and of course the eminently likeable Doctor.