The Australian Woman's Mirror provides the following introduction to this novel:
'The "shallow cup" is a steamer, and this intriguing story tells of what befell an Australian girl who made a trip "up East" - of a curious shipboard romance and what became of it.
"Marcia Kemp" is the nom-de-plume of a well-known Australian pen-woman who is here writing with first-hand knowledge of the setting of her story, and thus imparts some fascinating local color [sic] into the scenes she depicts.'