Can a gifted and single-minded young Irish woman find a way to trust God as she pursues a cherished dream among the distractions and lawlessness of 1892 New York City, or will she be caught in the vortex of the evil that stalks her? Seventeen-year-old Stella Manning already knows her life's purpose: to perform the dramatic spoken art of elocution on the stage. But her dream is shattered and pushed aside by her father's dream instead, sweeping her away from her beloved Dublin to brawny, bold, and dangerous New York City. As Stella steps into the pulsating disorder of a sprawling metropolis--crazily racing toward a new century--she wonders how she can possibly find her way, and her place, in this new and overwhelming world. Is her dream lost forever? Tom Kane, also seeking to achieve a dream, shares his journey with his new friend Stella and finds himself loving her more each day. But does Stella have room in her heart, filled with resentment and ambition, for a godly man? Will their dreams collide, or find a way forward together, amid a life-threatening plot that soon includes Stella? Stella's search for her dream reveals the exciting and vibrant world of nineteenth-century elocution--a performance art form now vanished. And her journey will lead her to either love and a growing faith or to a deadly fate.