Fran MacMillan has travelled south to escape the heat of the Queensland summer. Enjoying the solitude in Namadgi National Park in the high country, she is a little annoyed when a fellow camper pitches his tent close to hers. Yet fate has clearly arranged this meeting, for it is through talking to Kelvin that Fran is invited to participate in a working party restoring one of the historic huts in the region. And this weekend is just the start of some life changing experiences for Fran.

Almost a century before the pioneering Thompson family had lived in that same hut enduring the frigid winters of the snow belt but ultimately prospering on the land. Entwined within their story is that of Yenohan, a young Aboriginal girl who befriended their daughter Eleanor and ultimately became a surrogate member of the Thompson family.

When Libby Slater returns to her childhood home after twelve years living in Paris she has no firm plans in place beyond grieving for the married lover she recently lost and attempting to regain some sense of balance. She knows her reappearance in the small coastal community of Lighthouse Bay will raise many eyebrows, especially those of her estranged sister Juliet. The siblings have not spoken in years, unable to resolve the personal tragedy that divided them more two decades before.

Almost a century before Isabella Winterbourne was the only survivor of a shipwreck in the same small town. In possession of a priceless gift intended for the Australian parliament, she sees it as an opportunity to make a new life for herself. But in order to reinvent herself she will need some help - who can she turn to who won't reveal her secret?