The heroine is Lise, an English girl who, after the liberation of Paris, falls into bad company and, after a period in one of Paris's smartest brothels, and becomes a successful madam. The story of her prison sentence, her conversion, and her agonizing work among women whose experiences outdid even her own is also the story of one woman's searing confrontation with her faith and, above all herself.

The title of this book derives from the sequenced beads of the rosary, and it is a rosary glinting silver amid dirt and debris that becomes the very symbol of Lise's tragedy and final triumph.