From the introduction: On a small ferry four women in rough clothes sit quivering in the cold wind. They are being taken away from their families and everything they know, and on their way to a life at an isolated asylum for morally deficient women located on the tiny Danish island of Sprogø. Ahead of them awaits a life secluded from society. A life of discipline and regularity under careful observation by the watchful eyes of the institution’s Headmistress and Psychiatrists. Perhaps in time, if the treatment proves to be successful, they will be allowed back out into society again, however, it is far from certain that persons so deranged can improve their condition.