After the violent death of Ben's mother, his father moves the family from Florida to his boyhood home, a tiny village in Newfoundland. Ben hates it. Even the local accent is an obstacle. But when he discovers the remains of a Viking settlement, his imagination is ignited, and he finds a much-needed distraction from the unhappiness of his new life. In his elaborate fantasy world, he is Tor, a Viking shipbuilder. Through his daydreams, Ben is able to deal with suppressed feelings about his mother's death. When he uses her wood-carving tools to craft a miniature Viking ship named Frances, after his mother, he unconsciously constructs the vehicle for the release of his crippling feelings of sadness and guilt. A compelling tale that mixes Viking lore with a contemporary story of loss, Out of the Dark is about a boy coming to terms with the death of his mother.