In the wake of the Halifax Explosion of 1917, Penny's father must make a decision that will alter all their lives. Faced with the difficulty of finding housing for his three motherless daughters, and worried by the constant threat of disease, Papa reluctantly sends Emily and Maggie to his sister's home in Montreal. Penny, however, must go to live with Grandmama in Montreal. It's a decision that devastates ten-year-old Penny, for the life she is offered in Montreal is nothing like she imagined. It is the life of a princess--and Penny is decidedly not a princess!