This is the true story of a 19th century woman from rural Upstate New York who defied contemporary gender roles to amass a fortune, only to see it threatened by an unscrupulous husband. Malvina Guimaraes introduced the sewing machine, then a new and transformative device for women, to the South American market at a time when women rarely ventured beyond their homes. She was deceived and abused by her third husband who had 19th century law and conventional thinking on his side. The battle for control of her fortune crossed international borders, finally playing out in a dramatic and protracted legal battle in a New York courtroom.