Xavier Herbert's study of women liberated by the absence or relative scarcity of men during World War II.

For the soldiers' women in Sydney, life takes on a brittle gaiety as their husbands and lovers leave for the war and transient G.I.s take their place. The American troops are the centre of glamour and excitement in this Australian city in the 1940s and Ida, Rosa, Fay and Patricia are determined to join their fun. Inhibitions are abandoned in an urgent and frenzied desire to enjoy all that the city and soldiers have to offer.