Nan Brunty’s mother George keeps an alehouse in Deptford, named the Duchess of Brunty, the title she claims would have been hers, had Nelson survived. Eighteenth century Admiralty Regulations forbade women living on board ship, but many found ways around this. George served on a number of ships, both as a man and unmasked. As Nan narrates her mother’s history she becomes obsessed by the idea that Nelson could have been her father. She meets a young man, Baltic Nelson, who clings to the same belief. Could her mother’s wild stories really be true?