Returning for the summer to Drift House, their uncle's seagoing mansion, Susan and Charles Oakenfeld find themselves separated when a tidal wave carries the house out to sea. Charles is stuck up a tree with a parrot and a mysterious book, while Susan and Uncle Farley are adrift in the house. As each attempts to track the source of the time squall that set the tidal wave in motion, it soon becomes clear that they are separated not just by space, but centuries. From the coast of Newfoundland, to the rocky shores of medieval Greenland, to the tumbling tower of Babel, Charles and Susan are in for much more of an adventure than they could have imagined, and whether or not they get home again is out of their control . . .