1913. NY. Sixteen-year-old Luella and her younger sister Effie are raised by their parents to the fullest extent of Victorian morality. And when the rebel Luella disappears from home, Effie is sure: her father, angry at the disobedience of his eldest daughter, hid her in the “House of Mercy for Bad Girls,” about which there are monstrous rumors. Wanting to be reunited with her beloved sister, young Effie of her own free will comes to the gloomy “haven for lost souls,” although to do this she has to change her name and confess to non-existent sins. Very soon, however, she realizes that she has made a fatal mistake: Luella is not in the House of Mercy, and it is almost impossible to escape from the cruel correctional prison to freedom. And yet, with two new friends in misfortune, Effie begins to prepare to escape...