A family embarks on their annual pilgrimage to the cottage in Maine. In the course of their journey, a tale will be told, spun from the long absence of the family's black sheep, and from the prospect of his return. Garnet is the last of Verna and Allister's four children. Once a sensitive child, then a difficult adolescent and finally a lost soul, his travails resonate deeply with his family and their own pasts. As their journey brings them closer to their destination, the lives and stories of each character are revealed in turn, gathering together into an intricate web of myth and memory, and of love lost and reclaimed.