After the Franco-Prussian War and the siege of 1870-1871, the St. Clair family return to Paris, only to be swept up into the terrible cruelties and violence of the Commune. Here their young daughter, Helene, falls ill, becomes separated from the family, and is captured, before escaping to fend for herself on the war-torn streets. Meanwhile her two brothers face each other as mortal enemies across the barricades. Diney Costeloe is at the very top of her game in this gripping story of children and a family in deadly peril.