It is the first novel in Shreve's tetralogy to be set in a large beach house on the New Hampshire coast that used to be a convent.

In the summer of 1899, Olympia Biddeford, a privileged, intelligent 15-year-old, and her parents have retired from the heat of Boston to the coastal resort of Fortune's Rocks.

Their passionate affair, and subsequent discovery, produce a son and leads to far-reaching consequences that span several decades.

In the months that follow, Olympia transforms the Fortune's Rocks residence into a shelter for disadvantaged women, similar to her own experiences, and marries Haskell.

The novel is loosely based on the seaside neighborhood of Fortunes Rocks, located in Biddeford, Maine.