Was she his Red Raven or just another cheechako, a tenderfoot from the outside world looking for excitement or a news story in his remote Alaskan village? Rocky didn't know, but was intrigued by the sassy yet compassionate young woman, stranded thousands of miles from her home with no luggage, little money and no place to stay.

The trials, frustrations, and richness of life in Barrow (Utqiaģvik), Alaska change east coast archaeology intern Alexandra Oppenheimer's philosophy on life in 1994. Twenty-two years later, will the area be the same? And will her once-in-a-lifetime love, Rocky, have returned to it, too?