A glimpse of a historic way of life now gone forever. Although this is a fictional saga, the events and daily living experiences are fact.
Set in Orkney in the year 1900,when herring was the gold of the seas, and emmigration was encouraged, this story follows the fortunes of two women in love with the same man. Isa is barely sixteen and pregnant when her parents leave for Canada. She will join them some day - or will she?
On her new island home she faces the opposition of her mother-in-law and her husband's childhood sweetheart, Chrissie, discovers the true nature of the boy she loves, and forges a strong bond with an unlikely candidate.
A spurned Chrissie marries the violent Jack, and in a series of events, the two women's lives become interwoven.
Set against a background of grinding poverty and moments of wonder, of wild winter gales and soft summer sunsets, of love and passion, hate and deception, birth and death, Isa and Chrissie battle to fulfill their dreams, and simply to survive.