She is traveling on the poorly named ship Lady Luck, accompanied only by her Irish maid Mary, who sadly dies during a storm.

Also on the ship is Father Joseph, a French Catholic priest, hoping to baptize some of the Native Americans in the area, and Jehu Scudder, a sailor from Boston.

The book flashes between the current time and Jane's past in Philadelphia, which shows how she turned from a wild little girl to a quiet and pious young lady.

When Jane arrives at Shoalwater Bay later than expected, she finds that William has left the area, believing that she had gone back on her word, and she is alone, unchaperoned.

Jane has many other adventures, including fruitlessly diving into the water to find Mr. Swan's canoe, which has been lost in a storm, then replacing it by trading much of her wedding trousseau with Suis, with whom she has built a steady relationship.

[1] Multiple reviewers praised Boston Jane's characters, including the heroine, with Booklist's Kay Weisman referring to her as "intrepid"[2] and Publishers Weekly calling her "enormously likable and irrepressible".

"[4] Weisman also discussed how Holm provides "meticulous attention to historical details (especially concerning the Chinook Indians)", as well as "a perceptive understanding of human nature".

[5] AudioFile praised Gilsig's ability to "read with spirited good humor", noting that she "gives the confused teenager an endearing realness and still manages to inject everyone--from the Native American 'Handsome Jim' to the cantankerous Mr. Russell--with an authentic frontier flavor.

"[4] Publishers Weekly referred to Gilsig's performance as a "a bright, effective reading" and highlighted how she "adroitly changes tone from tentative to indignant to confident, depicting Jane's transformation from frail and ineffectual to robust and vibrant".