The 1930s are drawing to a close. On the brink of adulthood, Phyl discovers the Creek, an isolated community stranded between the Essex marshlands and the industrial highway of the Thames, where her life is unexpectedly enriched. But in the aftermath of life-changing illness and the traumatic loss of a friend, Phyl and her sister find themselves abruptly relocated to rural Wales where it is soon clear that the spectre of grief has not released its grip on her. Following the discovery of a cryptic set of verses and haunted by the foreboding figure of a man she does not know, Phyl is compelled both to unravel the strands of past tragedy and to confront an ever more implacable present as malevolent forces gather, threatening to destroy not only her fragile happiness but her very existence.