In 1886, thirty-one-year-old Katharine Bushnell gives up her medical practice to work with women living on Chicago's Hell's Half Acre and in the brutal lumber camps of Wisconsin. Her love for God and passion to see women released from bondage lead her to risk her own freedom and reputation for their sakes. Secretly, she visits these women to learn first-hand of the daily trials and torments they endure.

Crushed to see women mistreated, Kate prepares a report of her findings concerning the white slave trade in Wisconsin and throughout the Midwest. When Wisconsin's governor demands Kate appear before the legislature to defend her damaging reports, she becomes the center of great controversy. Will they believe her report? Will they pass a law prohibiting sex with a girl under sixteen? Will they punish the notorious den keepers?

Or will they brand her a liar?