The so-called mail order bride phenomenon developed to fill the needs of lonely men, particularly in regional Australia. But the marriages did not always work out. Nilanthi was such a bride. The youngest of five daughters in a family where status was higher than income, her parents had difficulty providing a dowry large enough to attract a suitably well-to-do husband. Believing all Westerners were rich, she chose to take her chances with a farmer in faraway Australia. When she goes missing, however, a Sydney history teacher called Laura sets about finding the young woman.