It's 2072 and the Netherlands and Germany are the world's dominant powers. Seventeen-year-old Millie Esmond lives in Dutch-ruled Oceania and is destined to become a farmer like her parents, providing food for the wealthy Dutch. But after stabbing a police officer in self-defense, her life takes an unexpected turn. She must leave her family behind and live in Amsterdam under the watchful eye of her Dutch grandmother and the ever-present Government.
As a condition of being in Amsterdam, Millie needs to gain entrance to a Dutch university. If she fails to get in, she'll go home with nothing, and she will have failed to break the family cycle of poverty.
Millie is governed by strict laws: one foot wrong and she'll be imprisoned. She tries to repress her rebellious nature and her forbidden feelings for her classmate Bas. But the deeper she goes into this new world, the more she realises not everything is as it seems.