Like most 18-year-old girls, Eden Owens has dreams for her future. But she also knows her chances of achieving her goals are overshadowed by her environment. She often sits in the dismal bedroom she shares with her younger sister, Abby, and prays for a miracle. More than anything else, Eden desperately wants a college education. When she approaches her brutish father, Clem, and nervously asks him if he has set aside money for her to go to college, her father laughs in her face. Eden knew then and there that she had no choice but to resume her miserable life in the slums of Maramount, Illinois. But fate has other plans for Eden. Mrs. Omaha, her favorite teacher, works behind the scenes with Professor Altgeld, a poet laureate, to include Eden on the meritorious Studies Abroad cruise program. As Eden embers upon a study voyage around the world, her nautical adventure opens her eyes to corruption, vice, and immorality that leads to a personal journey of self-discovery. Eden's determination to pursue her dream will drive her to excel scholastically. Although she will meet the love of her life, her journey will be fraught with bullies, rape, murder, and a mysterious stranger who exacts revenge in his own diabolical way.