Jack O'Hagan has never set eyes on his new home in Cornwall, yet he knows every twist of the stairs. He knows what lies behind every door. He senses that the stories buried in the ancient walls have been part of him since before he was born. Things about the present are not right – noises in deep caverns running beneath the cellar and a next-door-neighbour who fills him with fear and distrust. The House is throbbing with secrets, and it is determined to share these secrets with Jack.

Do old houses hold secrets? Can those secrets affect the lives of people who live there now? Jack O'Hagen has moved to a house in Cornwall that certainly has a secret – a secret it is determined to share. Two hundred years ago, a young Martha Jax enters into service in this house. Because she has a superb singing voice, she becomes embroiled in her employer's smuggling activities. She is made to dress as a ghost and walk the smuggler's route with her singing to scare away anyone who is not involved. She hates what she is being made to do and, in desperation, she searches for her brother, a young dragoon who works for the king's excise men. Together they expose the smugglers, but disastrous consequences emerge for Martha and her brother. The locals, dependent on free trading for their income, mete out a savage revenge.

When Jack steps over the threshold of the house for the first time, he is swamped by the overwhelming force of déjà vu. He is convinced he's been here before, and he knows the building's layout with unnerving clarity. When doors lock, Jack's only means of access is a rusted key found in the cellar. Using this key thrusts him back to the world of Martha Jax where he relives her story. Each time he returns to the present, however, only vague impressions of the past remain with him.

It is only when Jack finds out something more about Martha Jax that he attains a final peace for the house.