In this retelling of the founding of England, a kind but dim-witted king has thirty-three beloved daughters who work tirelessly to improve the lives of the poor and powerless in the kingdom. Because of their work, the barons, councillors, priests and men who stand to lose their power claim the thirty-three daughters are wicked, but the King refuses to interfere in their work, as he loves them and is proud of them, even if he doesn't understand what it is they are doing. The barons retaliate by kidnapping all thirty-three daughters and forcing them into marriage and imprisonment. As the weeks and months go by, the king begins to realise he has been duped, and he enlists the help of the poor children of the kingdom who are loyal to the daughters who helped and taught them. The children manage to communicate with the imprisoned daughters, and the daughters hatch a scheme. The king throws a ball which all the barons and their wives are required to attend, and through him, the daughters set the event up so that they can turn the situation around on the barons, make them appear to be the wicked daughters, and have the king punish his scheming "daughters" by sending them all to the Land of Giants to be eaten. The daughters are able to remain disguised as the barons, having ostensibly broken none of the kingdom's harsh anti-women laws. Some time later, an envoy of giants arrives. Before they ate the barons-disguised-as-daughters, they heard their complaints and found the deeds of the actual daughters so admirable they offer the daughters-disguised-as-barons positions of power in their kingdom, and the opportunity to turn it into a free and equal paradise. The daughters accept, and the land they transform eventually becomes known as Albion. Lonely without them, the king takes in the poor children of the kingdom and is remembered for his kindness and generosity.