When Gay Vandeleur is divorced by her military husband in late Victorian London, she heads out to Halifax, Nova Scotia, to build a new life of romance and adventure with no strings attached (she's the "detached pirate" in the language of the period). But gossip is international, and as she experiences courtship and love in the small world of Halifax, she runs up against all the challenges of the "Traditional Woman" versus the "New Woman". Thrust into a series of irrevocable compromises, this intriguing heroine experiences both the low points and the high points of being a "New Woman" before romance rules the day. Lively, without self-pity, this is an entertaining read that keeps the reader engrossed right until the last page.