The ever-optimistic Mr Micawber bids a fond farewell to David Copperfield and takes his family to Australia, confident their lives will change for the better. However, more than florid language and optimism is needed to survive in this brash new world that is Melbourne in 1855. Visits from the bailiffs, rent arrears and his daughter Emma's betrothal to his landlord's son already complicate poor Micawber's life, but when his own son Wilkins introduces a young man—Godfrey McNeil—with an ambiguous past who also has designs on Emma, it becomes even more tangled. Micawber turns detective, but will the mystery he uncovers threaten even his optimism and integrity?