Eve and Dinah are everything to one another, never parted day or night. They are raised among the Children, a commune of strays and orphans ruled by Uncle, the mysterious patriarch. All they know is the grey Isle of Altnaharra which sits in the black sea off the wildest coast of Scotland.

Eve loves the free, savage life of the Isle and longs to inherit Uncle's vision. She is untroubled save by her dreams; of soft arms and a woman singing. Dinah longs for something other.

But the world is at war and cannot be kept at bay. As the solitude of Altnaharra is broken, Eve's faith and sanity fracture. In a great storm, in the depths of winter, as the old year dies, the locals discover a devastating scene.

Eve and Dinah's stories of what really happened that night contradict and intertwine. As past and present converge, only one woman can be telling the truth. Who is guilty, who innocent?