The Bleamy family, three strong-willed Scots, are forced to leave their drought-besieged farm for London in 1802. Twelve-year-old Jeremy Bleamy soon loses both parents—his father to consumption and his mother, who jumps from London Bridge in her grief. Now an evicted orphan with less rights than a stray dog, he sets up shelter in a corner between two buildings with all he has left in the world—his parents kitchen table and a few assorted belongings. Lonely, cold, hungry, but too proud to accept charity, he works dangerous jobs to stay alive. He is also constantly threatened by orphan hunters who steal young boys and sell them to factories, as nothing more than slaves. With only his brains and unshakable resolve to help him, Jeremy is caught up in a struggle for his life at a time when the lives of orphans were of no consequence...