In 1886, following the tragic deaths of her father and her fianc, Laura Jennings, now alone in the world, travels to Hawaii to live with missionary relatives. Laura imagines she'll live in a grass hut and minister to savages, but, on arriving in Honolulu, she's surprised to find that, far from being savages, the Hawaiians have developed a charming and prosperous kingdom and Laura's family is among the wealthy elite plotting to overthrow the monarchy....

Concerned that the increasing influence of Americans will make her island's traditional ways disappear, seven-year-old Princess Lydia Liliuokalani commits traditional stories of the Hawaiian people to paper and presents them to King Kamehameha on Restoration Day in 1846.