America, 1887. In a country healing from the horrors of the Civil War, the American West has never been more treacherous. Evil men do as they please, and the corrupt justice system does little to help their victims.
Enter the Railwalkers. Bandits whose goal is to punish those whom the law has allowed to walk free. Some think they're an urban legend. Some see them as murderers, while to others, they are angels. To Violet Donovan, they are family.
Growing up as the sole heiress to the sizable Donovan estate, Violet's privilege allowed her wild spirit to flourish. Despite the pressures of her sex—find a husband, have children, and be subservient—Violet is passionate, loud, stubborn, and untamed. However, at the marriageable age of twenty, Violet may have to give in to her mother's wishes and marry mean, ugly Eustace Carpenter.
But Violet's life changes when she is saved from an attacker by a strange woman. A woman who, like Violet, doesn't fit the mold. Unfortunately Violet gets mixed up in a murder charge and has to leave everything she knows for a life on the run from the law. Through divine intervention, she and the woman cross paths again, and Violet comes to know her and her comrades.