Content Warning: This section of the guide describes and discusses the source text’s treatment of rape, domestic violence, and death by suicide.

Using a third-person omniscient point-of-view, the novel opens with the British naval blockade of Cape Cod during the War of 1812. As a result of the blockade, fishing season brings extra anxiety for women in town. In addition to the usual fear of losing their men to the ocean, they also fear the British: If boats are caught, men will be sentenced to death, and boys will be sent to prison in England.

John Hadley longs to start anew as a turnip farmer. He loves his wife deeply, and being at sea is unbearable without her. With the help of his eldest son, Vincent, and neighbors, he spends three years building a house inland. Ten-year-old Isaac, the youngest Hadley, doesn’t help; instead, he rescues a baby blackbird, which becomes his constant companion.

When fishing season arrives, the Hadleys have been in the house only a month, and the farm isn’t yet functional, but John’s sense of duty propels him out to sea one last time. Coral insists that Isaac remain home, but John takes both boys, embarking on a moonless night to escape the notice of the British.