From being dropped off at an orphanage, sold to a sex trafficker and survived as the mistress to the titans of industry, Barbara Allen became a force second to none, outsmarted the boys at their own game and became the quintessential survivor, outlasting all of them. Her lost diaries tell the entire account of a woman who beat the odds, and in the end found equality, love and almost happiness.

A woman had limited assets in 1898 to exploit her position. Youth had its rewards, yet youth withered as surely as a cut flower in a crystal vase. Time was needed to gain useful knowledge how to accumulate and forever possess hard assets.