A young Irish woman, Sarah, has grown up among soldiers on Te Awanui – The Great River. Too young and pregnant by the son of a Maori chief, she gives birth to a son who is kidnapped by his Maori  grandfather. Abandoned by her soldier father, her life is dedicated to the search for her son as she finds herself torn between Doyle, a broken down soldier and Wiremu, the son of a Maori warrior.  As the conflict escalates between the Maori tribes and the British Colonial Army she finds herself at the centre of the cultural storm.