In the summer of 1916, Roberta Jewett and her three daughters arrive in Camden, Maine. As a divorced woman, Roberta knows that returning to her home town to build a new life on her own will not be easy. But the obstacles are even than she has anticipated. As the women of the town wag their tongues behind her back, the men invent innuendo. She had counted on the support of her family, but even her own mother and sister offer more condemnation than comfort. In her efforts to rebuild both her life and a ramshackle house overlooking the harbor, Roberta endures violence, betrayal and much pain. But she also finds love, friendship and acceptance from the most unlikely source.