A young and successful journalist working in New York, Maureen English appears to have the perfect life and family.But Maureen's husband, a highly respected fellow reporter, has in private a tendency towards alcohol and violent abuse.When the situation at home becomes intolerable, Maureen takes her baby daughter and flees.In a Maine fishing town she assumes a new identity and spends six weeks battling sub-zero temperatures, the intrusive glare of the townsfolk -- and her fears of discovery. Against the force of the wintry sea -- the cawing of the gulls, the lobstermen hauling their catch, the press of waves against the rocks -- Maureen settles into the rhythms of a new life.Two married men pursue her, and one captures her heart.But this calming respite ends suddenly, leaving in its wake a murder, a rape charge, a suicide and a helpless child. Nearly nineteen years later, a cache of documents regarding Maureen English -- abused, accused and imprisoned -- are given to her daughter by the journalist who made her name reporting the case.The truth should lie within them, but the papers raise far more questions than they answer . . .