The year is 1804 and Lizzie Short, a street smart, spunky 9-year-old street waif in the dockland area of London during the Napoleonic Wars, finds herself beginning a new life following the deportation of her friends who are caught stealing food. Wandering the streets alone, she goes to the aid of an injured man beginning a series of events which change her young life. She meets Quon Lee, a boy of similar age, who becomes her friend and business partner.

Whittle's first bestselling novel brings us a richly entertaining, old-fashioned coming-of-age story set during the Napoleonic Wars. He describes the street smart and spunky Lizzie, "as a girl who didn't have a father to educate her to the fact that in those days girls weren't supposed to think!" Thus Lizzie turns out to be unusual for her time—a gifted and enterprising girl, who by her own will, perseverance and intelligence, finds a way to survive.