Is Francis Napier a man or a woman? William Stephens, a young lawyer, is about to depart New Zealand to serve in the First World War when he is seconded to investigate the strange claims of a draft dodger. His interrogation of the mercurial prisoner leads William into a world of doubt that jeopardises his engagement to Edith, a budding artist, and his future in liberal Wellington.This novella weaves historical fact, imaginative fiction and allusions to Greek myth to show how things might prove otherwise for William. It is at once a fractured love story and a reflection on the nature of gender.