Forced to become an independent woman at 16, Colleen McCarthy is quite the optimist. When she sets sail to America from Ireland during the Potato Famine, she meets a man unlike any other. Talk of the future is great, but will the man she loves turn into her worst nightmare and shatter her optimism, or will she prevail? Love is supposed to be for a lifetime, will that be the situation, or will addiction and jealousy have it's say?