Although R.D. Blackmore is most strongly associated with romantic fiction set in the bucolic English countryside, this novel deviates significantly from his typical formula. Set in the harsh desert environment of the Western U.S. in the mid-1800s, Erema follows the travails of a young British girl and her father who get lost while looking for an old family friend. Will Erema survive to clear up the suspicious circumstances besmirching her father's good name?