Summary

The novel switches between the perspectives of the five main characters: adults Rowan and Dom; teenagers Raff and Fen; and nine-year-old Orly. It opens from the perspective of Rowan as she fears she is about to drown. Her narration implies a past history with drowning. Switching to the perspective of Fen, a stranger is pulled from the sea by Fen, badly injured but still alive. Fen runs to a nearby lighthouse to alert her dad and her brothers that a woman has washed up on shore. From Dom’s perspective, father to the three children at the lighthouse, he Raff and Fen return to the beach to get the woman. They carry her unconscious body to the lighthouse, warm her up, and Dom gives her stitches.

The narration continues from Dom’s perspective. He brought his children to live on Shearwater Island eight...