After years away, Maura Shaw has returned to Newport, Rhode Island, to teach English at the the acadamy. Behind her lies her life as the perfect midwestern wife and mother, a life that seemed on the surface to be all she had ever wished for. That illusion vanished in a storm off Mackinac Island in the wake of an accident that engulfed Maura's husband and her older daughter, Carrie. Now, with her son and younger daughter, she hopes to find a new beginning. Newport has never failed to infuse Maura with a sense of mystery and hope. But for fourteen-year-old Beck, the move is a painful upheaval from everything she has ever loved - especially her sister, Carrie. Ever since her sister disappeared, Beck has retreated into the world of mathematics, where principles are permanent, unlike so many other things in life. Without Carrie, Beck has lost half of herself - the half that would have fit in at the elite private school she and her brother, Travis will now attend. The half that made things right. Still, Beck clings to the hope that her sister will return to them. Beck isn't alone in her struggle to adjust. At sixteen, Travis is juggling a long - distance first love and an attraction to an expensive - looking girl with a wicked sparkle in her eye. And for Maura, ghosts linger here - and unresolved breach with her own sister and long - ago secret that may now have the power to set her free...