Jack Kempson started out as an idealistic cop. Thirty years on, he remains relentless in tracking down villains, but has lost confidence in his moral barometer. He turns a blind eye to the dubious methods employed by some of his contemporaries — prepared to let dodgy means be justified by the noble end.
A scientist desperately wanting to prove that mermaids exist is ostracized from the scientific community in Japan. He settles down in Australia steadfast on his hypothesis. When a Japanese student visits him in Australia with strange questions about mermaids, how the young man survived in the ocean, and why he doesn't remember anything.
As World War I rages, brave and youthful Australians Archy and Frank—both agile runners—become friends and enlist in the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps together. They later find themselves part of the Dardanelles Campaign on the Gallipoli peninsula, a brutal eight-month conflict which pit the British and their allies against the Ottoman Empire and left over 500,000 men dead.
Torn by the conflict between society and her own life, as well as her failing marriage and love for another woman, Cass desperately tried to pull together the pieces of her shattered life.
