Young adult reading. In the 1880s German Lutheran immigrants established a settlement at Sarau, near Nelson. The area has since been renamed Upper Moutere. The author, Leone Morris, discovered diaries written by her grandfather's cousin that capture the palce and time of this story and helped her to create Emilie, a young girl struggling against the restrictions of the community. It is time for Emilie to take on the responsibilities of being a young lady, and that includes household chores, accepting that education is only for boys, and marriage. It's all so unfair. Emilie is determined to escape to Nelson.